Gun Guy Radio: Guns of the Indian Wars
OutdoorHub 03.07.13
This week on Gun Guy Radio, Jake announces “Student of the Gun Radio,” hosted by Paul Markel of studentofthegun.com will be bringing this new show to the Firearms Radio Network starting March 11th. Also this week, Zack and Jake commemorate the 1 year anniversary by reminiscing about the first episode they recorded and a few others with memorable moments. They discuss where this year has taken the show and the new network.
Guest Lane Douglas joins the show to discuss the guns of the Indian Wars. Lane is a firearms collector and native of Tennessee who has been an avid hunter for many years. We learn that the period of the Indian Wars takes place after the Civil War from 1867-1985 when the army had been reduced down to 25,000 men. Despite repeating technology like the Henry and Spencer rifles, the Army preferred issuing single shot rifles like the strong actions of the Sharps. This was because the leaders in the military felt that repeater rifles made the soldiers tend to waste more ammunition. In fact the gun that was most prevalent in the Civil War was actually the Trapdoor Springfield–a muzzle loaded rifle converted to load a .45 cartridge loaded from the breech. Metallic cartridges were invented during the Civil War era and were perfected during the Indian War time. Then in 1895 the Army adopted the .30/40 Krag as its standard infantry rifle.
It is interesting to note that the soldiers tended to modify their weapons by attaching pistol grips and cartridge boxes, as well as hollowing out the stocks to fit tools. Some even bored the barrels out and made them into shotguns. Colt and Smith and Wesson were the big names in that era. Because it made it easier to reload on a horse, many of the soldiers preferred the S&W over the Colt. However, since the Colt accepted both .45 LC and the .45 S&W, it was chosen for military use. Lane continued the discussion by explaining that to qualify as a marksman in the Army a soldier had to shoot 20 rounds at a 27” target placed 800 yards out (with open sights). If you hit 16 of those 20, you qualified as a ‘marksman.’ Pretty impressive even today with modern weapons.
Continuing with the Brownells/Gun Guy Radio weekly giveaway, they announce the winner of the Brownells/NRA deluxe gunsmith screwdriver set. You can enter to win as well by subscribing to the GGR e-mail list. Enter once and you’re entered for life, as long as you stay subscribed. Next week’s giveaway is the AR-15 Multitasker Tool II. Listen to the entire episode at http://www.gunguyradio.com/052/ or subscribe to the show on iTunes.
