Firelock pistol historic military use

[Carrie450]

I recently acquired a Veteran Arms British Sea Service Pistol, .62 caliber. I soon started looking for appropriate paper cartridge templates and found that so little information exists on the subject.
Were lubricated paper cartridges a thing for the pistols or were they expected to be loaded with a flask and a cloth patch?
Any other nice historical notes is also, as always, appreciated and taken to heart.

 

[No second place]

...Similar to loading a smoothbore musket...But today we prime last mostly with a priming device for safety reasons...c

 

[dave_person]

Hi,
Your barrel caliber is bigger than the originals, which were about 0.56 caliber. They issued ammunition in paper cartridges which contained a 0.517 caliber ball with 68 gains of 2F powder. The paper cartridge was not oiled or lubed. You bit off the end of the cartridge, poured a small amount of powder in your pan, closed the frizzen, poured the rest of the powder down the barrel and rammed the still paper wrapped ball down on top. You should get a copy of Bailey's "Small Arms of he British Forces in America". The author describes making cartridges and the dimensions of the paper and roller. You may have to make a few adjustments because your bore is bigger.

dave

 

[Carrie450]

Hi,
Your barrel caliber is bigger than the originals, which were about 0.56 caliber. They issued ammunition in paper cartridges which contained a 0.517 caliber ball with 68 gains of 2F powder. The paper cartridge was not oiled or lubed. You bit off the end of the cartridge, poured a small amount of powder in your pan, closed the frizzen, poured the rest of the powder down the barrel and rammed the still paper wrapped ball down on top. You should get a copy of Bailey's "Small Arms of he British Forces in America". The author describes making cartridges and the dimensions of the paper and roller. You may have to make a few adjustments because your bore is bigger.

dave

Now that is weird! I hadn't expected the change in caliber. I can't help but wonder why the caliber was changed like that.
That's good information too, and I'll pick up a copy of that book when I get paid this month.

 

[zneufeld]

Duelist1954 has a good YouTube video on making paper cartridges, although nothing specific to Sea Service pistols. I have a Sea Service as well, and recently made a few cartridges that I haven't tried out yet.