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1870 ORDNANCE MEMORANDA NO. 8 – METALLIC
AMMUNITION FOR THE SPRINGFIELD BREECH-LOADING
RIFLE-MUSKET – IDENTIFIED TO AN ORDNANCE OFFICER
ASSIGNED TO THE BENICIA ARSENAL: A scarce and
desirable early Indian War period publication, this is
an original printing of ORDNANCE MEMORANDA NO. 8 –
METALLIC AMMUNITION FOR THE SPRINGFIELD BREECH-LOADING
RIFLE-MUSKET, printed in Washington D.C., by the
Government Printing Office in 1870. This particular
manual is inscribed in ink on the front fly leaf as the
personal property of First Lieutenant George W. McKee,
assigned to the Benecia Arsenal in California, on
November 1, 1870.
According to the Historical Register and Dictionary
of the U.S. Army, Volume 1, by Heitman (page 671),
First Lieutenant George Wilson McKee was born in
Kentucky, graduated from the US Military Academy in
the class of 1858, and entered the Ordnance Department
in 1863. Promoted through the ranks up to the rank of
major, McKee died in 1891 having served at number of the
large arsenals and at the National Armory in
Springfield, Massachusetts.
McKee or his heirs apparently donated this memoranda to
the Carnegie Library in Allegheny, Pennsylvania and
there are several library ink stamp and embossed labels
throughout the pages, to include an inked inscription on
the first page with McKee’s name and the acquisition
information.
Ordnance Memoranda No. 8 deals with the development and
manufacturing process of producing the .50 caliber
Government cartridge as was used in the Model 1868 and
Model 1870 arms. Cartridges for the rifle-musket (and
carbine), blank cartridges, and cartridges for the .50
caliber and 1 inch Gatling guns are covered in detail,
with the text covering the development, process of
manufacture, preparation and assembly of each of the
components, as well as the machinery necessary to
perform each task. The text is 68 pages long, and
includes numerous illustrative plates showing the
cartridges at the various stages of manufacture and the
machinery in detail, and charts providing ballistic and
dimensional data.
Not only a significant Ordnance publication, but an
attractive piece as well, this volume, measures 11 ˝” by
9”, and is embossed on both the front and back red cloth
covers with the Ordnance Department seal. The spine and
the outer corners of the front and back covers are bound
in leather and the title is embossed in three sections
on the spine in gold leaf. The binding is tight with no
loss of integrity and no damage to the pages, and the
covers and spine are scuffed, but intact and overall
clean.
These original Ordnance Department publications have
never been common, and this is a particularly desirable
edition that belongs in an advanced Springfield or
Ordnance Department collection and would be an excellent
addition to a display of Model 1870 Trial arms.
SOLD
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