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Iconoclast Ammo?
SP45
Member Posts: 1,758 ✭✭✭
Teak, I was under the understanding that bennet primed ctgs. were not rimfire and are an inside primed early centerfire. I have a round in 58 cal which I thought was only made in rimfire for the origional trapdoor conversion. Can you tell me whats going on?
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I haven't seen or heard from Teak in a while. I hope he is well.
You are correct. Benet primed cartridges are inside primed and are not rimfire. There is a small cup held in place by crimps located about 5/16 inch on the exterior of the case above the rim. If your cartridge doesn't have the crimps it could be a rimfire in this caliber.
This type of priming system goes back to the Civil War era. Frandford Arsenal used this priming system for 47-70 cartridges as early as 1873. There were a number of inside prime systems that Frankford Arsenal experimented with in those days and sometimes it becomes difficult to sort them out since they were all similar in appearance.
From your description, it sounds like you either have a 58 Musket or 58 Carbine inside primed cartridge. You can tell the difference because the carbine case is approximately 1.5 inches in length - the musket case is 1.75 inches in length and both use the same bullet. Bullet weight was around 500 grains with 80 to 85 grains black powder.
The 58 Musket was never adopted by the US Military although they did experiment with this cartridge. A Berdan primed 58 Musket and Carbine cartridge evolved from earlier rimfire and inside primed types.
Hope this helps.
Heavyiron