Civil War Reenactment Safety....

steeltoe1978

What do the/you Civil War Reenactors do to get a lot of bang/flash out of your gun and still stay safe? What do you put on top of the powder?

allen griggs

I was in one reenactment battle in central Georgia.
We loaded a paper wad on top of the black powder.
We were also instructed to shoot over the head of the enemy, for safety, but I couldn't stand it, I shot right at them.
Hard to injure somebody at 100 yards with a paper wad.

I learned a lesson about safety at that battle.
I ran up with my group and we all hit the dirt.
A guy about 15 yards away looked at me, and said, "You better mover over, friend. Cannonball strike."
I looked at the ground, about a foot away I saw some wires that trailed along the ground, and were buried.
The artillerymen bury sticks of dynamite around the battle site, so something will go Boom and make dirt fly and make a big crater when they fire the cannon. I was looking at the wires to the blasting cap.
I moved real quick.

Fido969

I do some re-enacting and there are a LOT of safety rules.

http://www.usvolunteers.org/Documtents/safe04.pdf

Muskets are visually inspected by an officer or NCO before being allowed on the field. After we assemble the muskets are then "cleared" with a cap and each is test fired for function. We use blank charges, usually about 60 grains, wrapped in paper. We tear open the cartridges and dump the powder down the barrel. The paper then can be used as wadding. We fire either with or without wadding, depending on the order.

With wadding is easier and more likely to fire - we do it if we are in a safe place with at least about 50 yards of clear space in front of us.

If we are reenacting a battle, or if there are public members nearby, or if we are trying to limit the amount of litter, then we will fire without wadding. We'll dump the powder down the barrel, then thump the butt on the ground if the ground is soft, or hit the side of the barrel if we are on a hard surface to try to get all of the powder down.

Sometimes there are misfires, if that is the case you just don't reload and then you wait for the next cycle to fire again. If the musket still doesn't fire with a charge in it you pull out of line and work with one of the sergeants to clear the gun, always watching where the muzzle is pointed.

In a battle scenario it is important to elevate the musket if the enemy is within about 75 yards. A blank charge can cause injury if it is fired at someone, and wadding or anything else in the barrel can cause even more injury.

I remember a fellow who was about 10 yards in front of his buddy and his buddy fired and it burned the fellows face and left him stone deaf for about 4 hours.

Any safety violation that are observed can stop the battle, and we are usually told about problems and they make make adjustments before the next senario. In one senario there was a fellow shooting a pistol at the "enemy" at close range - the next day we were told "no pistols"

There are also different rules for firing from the front rank or the rear rank.

Organized reenactments require that all participants be members of groups that have training regimens to assure safe conduct on the field.

Hawk Carse

Reenactors of my acquaintance say they use no ramrods, for fear of somebody getting excited, leaving it down the barrel, and launching it at a Yank. They "tap load"; just dump the powder down the barrel, thump the butt to settle it, discard the cartridge powder, cap, and fire with the muzzle elevated over the heads of the opposing force.