Spare cylinders?

[16gauge]

When I bought my 1858 Remington, it came with a spare cylinder....while it seems like it might be convinient, I dont remember seeing this 'technique' used much or spoken off in historical documents, documentaries, ect.
How common of a practice was it for military leaders to carry spare loaded cylinders for thier revolvers?

 

[Light Dragoon]

When I bought my 1858 Remington, it came with a spare cylinder....while it seems like it might be convinient, I dont remember seeing this 'technique' used much or spoken off in historical documents, documentaries, ect.
How common of a practice was it for military leaders to carry spare loaded cylinders for thier revolvers?

It wasn't, so you are correct in your recollections. Although the Patersons without loading levers came with a spare (and Josiah Gregg speaks of carrying a pair of Colts pistols and a Colts rifle, all with spare cylinders in 1839), it wasn't at all common and in the US service, they were never issue. (There is the possibility that the 50 Colts rifles that Col. Harney purchased from his own funds from Colt for service in Florida had them, but they weren't exactly "issue")

Both the Prussian and Austrian Navies DID issue spare cylinders for the Navy Colts that they purchased, however. The holsters that were issued with them that have the spare cylinder pouch attached (rather like a magazine pocket on a Luger holster) sometimes come up for sale in auctions, but that's about it as far as any government ever issuing spare cylinders, anywhere that I am aware of. I would love to hear otherwise though.

For the War between the States, it was discovered fairly early on that it's a heck of a lot more convienient to just carry a spare revolver than a spare cylinder (though spare pistols were never issue either). And I know of no records at all suggesting that either Remington or Colt ever manufactured "extra" cylinders for sale on any large scale either prior to or during the war (other than in the Paterson period for Colt, and the above mentioned contracts to Europe).

So really, it's all a total reenactorism. Guys are used to the idea of having a spare magazine for their autoloader, or speedloader for their double-action revolver and want that in a caplock too. But the people of that era were coming from a mindset of "Wow, SIX WHOLE LOADS!", being used to single-shots, rather than our "Gee, only six?" today. So a couple of packets of combustable cartridges in the pocket were about it as far as reloads go for most of the guys in the period.

I hope this helps!

Cheers,

Gordon

 

[crockett]

There is a book called, to the best of my recollection," I Rode With Quantrill"(sic?). In any event Frank James was part of the group. They were Confederates. James talks about doing a cylinder change on horseback and he used a Colt Navy 36. That's the only time I've read of such. I think the confederates "loaded up" with all the pistols they could carry over a saddle which gave them a lot of firepower. The Feds were probably under tighter control with less freedom to choose their equipment.

I always thought the Remington would be best for cylinder changes but the tolerance is so tight that I have trouble. The Colts are easy but you have to be careful not to lose the wedge.

 

My great-great grandfather fought for the South with Hood's cavalry and lived to come back. He was still alive when my dad was a boy during the 1930's and told him a few stories. The old man said there were always plenty of firearms of every kind that could be picked up after battles. Dad said he claimed he usually carried a repeater rifle (never said what kind) and 5 or 6 revolvers, all loaded and hung by the trigger guards with leather loops over the saddle. He supposedly brought 4 pistols, a ML shotgun and a ML rifle home after the war and still had two pistols around the house when my dad was a teenager - I now have the only one left - the others were either given away, lost or stolen over the years.

The interesting thing is that the revolver I have (1860 Army) has a deformed and worn trigger guard, which was bashed or yanked to pull it out of oval. I don't know if a piece of leather could have done the damage but it does fit the story. It almost looks like someone did it with a hammer so a leather cord would fit behind the trigger and still allow it to drop the hammer without interference. I always thought holsters would be more protection but maybe a leather cord was faster - the only problem would be that the guns would probably clatter and clank if you rode at anything faster than a trot. This revolver is plumb worn out and has 1/16 of an inch play at the forcing cone so it was fired a lot.

Doesn't do much for the cylinder debate but if they had the option, I think soldiers would have much preferred to carry a spare loaded gun instead of a spare loaded cylinder just because it was faster into action.

 

[Zonie]

Ole' Clint Eastwood reloads his Remington with a spare cylinder in a couple of his movies. ::
As I recall, he didn't even have to take his squint off of the bad guy to look at what he was doing. ::
Course, I don't think that works unless you have suspenseful music playing in the background.

Every time I put my Remingtons cylinder in, I have to rotate it and look at it. :: ::

 

[JackAubrey]

I could accept a CW vetern reloading a new cylinder during a lull in a battle,safely in a trench or in or in a building in Fredricksburg,but combustible cartridges were a much surer way to goIMHO,Jack.

 

[crockett]

That Frank James reference, I think he found a pistol too beat up to use so he saved the cylinder. There's another aspect to this. Putting in a new cylinder could screw up the timing of the gun. I don't think it was common to carry spare cylinders. I have read the same thing, all the extra revolvers were battlefield pick ups.
Does it kill yah that you don't have all your grandfathers stuff?? I am sort in the same position. Relics just given away. Guess that's life but how do you ever replace artifacts of a relative used during an important part of history? You can't.

 

Yeah, they were just old guns back then and of no real value to most people. Lots of houses had rifles or shotguns standing in a corner collecting dust - some of them were real treasures.

When I was a little kid, say 5 or 6, my dad gave me two old pistols to play with that were in terrible shape. He'd found them in the dirt so the grips were gone, mainsprings gone, loading levers frozen etc., but after I was old enough to know, I could tell they were both Colt 2nd model Dragoons. My mother made a couple of holsters out of canvas and tried to buckle them on but the pistols pulled my pants down. Mom still has a picture somewhere of me proudly wearing my "cowboy guns". I never could hold them up... :haha:

Those old pistols also disappeared sometime in my childhood. They never would have fired again but I would have liked now to be able to hang them on the wall.

 

[16gauge]

Thanks for the input, guys.....I have often wondered about this. I have seen the "cylinder switch" in some movies (pale rider), but never heard of it being used. I can say that two thoughts come to mind: the first is that trying to put a charged & primed cylinder in a revolver might be a tad dangerous. The chance of striking a cap on something hard enought to set it off is very real. The second thought is that this might be a bit difficult to do quickly, due to fouling. Even after one cylinder of loads, there is enough fouling present that I have to lightly strike the cylinder pin in order to free it up enough to slide it out.
However, it is handy....MI law requires that all cap and ball revolvers be unloaded totally for transport. However, if the cylinder is removed, then it isn't a problem. I load up the night before, remove the cylinder, and then next morning slide it into place, cap it, holster it, and I'm good to go!

 

[walruskid1]

i do have an 1858 remington (made by lyman) that has two extra cylinders. they do stay in the drawer when i go shooting. i would never load and cap them when out of the pistol. load maybe, cap NEVER. to much like having a live grenade on your belt with the pin pulled! :imo:

 

[unspellable]

Cylinders are generally fitted to the revolver. The fact that they require fitting would discourage wide use of second cylinders. It's not like a second magzine where you expect the magazine to fit any pistol of the appropriate model that comes along.

I have acquired several second cylinders, both cap & ball and cartridge types, for my revolvers. I very quickly learned that you cannot expect just any cylinder to fit just any revolver. I've proven this with the Ruger Old Army, the Ruger Blackhawk, and the S&W Model 28.

 

[ValleyForge]

Interesting post. Yeah, I've seen Clint switch capped cylinders in "Pale Rider", too. Then again, John Wayne pulled grenade pins with his teeth.....

But wasn't the "quick change" touted as a design feature of the Remingtons? Or is it just Cabela's that does that?

 

[Don]

I have two Pietta Remingtons, one brass the other steel. Out of curiosity I switched cylenders and they seemed to function fine. I would think that spare cylenders were more practical with some revolvers and less so with others for example the Colts had to be disassembled.

Don

 

[Bear Rider]

I thought about spare cylinders for use while hunting or plinking, but since I've started making and using combustible cartridges, Loading is quick and easy enough that I don't see any point. I think that I spend more time worrying about keeping the cylinder pin clean and lubed on my '58 than I do reloading.