Burnside Carbine Fifth Model
Burnside Rifle Company · Carbine · Out Of Production · 1863
Also known as: Burnside Model 1864 Carbine, Burnside Model 1863, Fifth Model Burnside Carbine
Overview
The Burnside Carbine Fifth Model was the final and most numerous production pattern of Ambrose E. Burnside's single-shot, breech-loading percussion cavalry carbine, built in .54 caliber by the Burnside Rifle Company of Providence, Rhode Island, from 1863 to 1865. Its tilting breechblock, tipped open by a double-hinged loading lever that doubled as the trigger guard, chambered a distinctive cone-shaped brass cartridge whose belted mouth wedged into a matching breech to seal against gas leakage. The Fifth Model differed from the Fourth chiefly by a guide screw added to the right side of the receiver that stopped the breechblock from dropping free, speeding reloading in the saddle. Roughly 43,000 were made, making it the most common of all Burnside carbines and the third most-issued carbine of the American Civil War.
Specifications
| Weight (empty) | 3175 g (112.0 oz) |
| Overall Length | 1016 mm (40.00") |
| Barrel Length | 533 mm (20.98") |
| Action Type | Break Action |
| Firing Mechanism | Percussion |
| Trigger Type | Single Stage |
| Magazine Capacity | 1 rounds |
| Magazine Type | Internal |
| Muzzle Velocity | 290 m/s (951 fps) |
| Effective Range | 183 m (200 yd) |
| Maximum Range | 550 m (601 yd) |
| Rate of Fire | 8 rpm |
| Barrel Rifling | Right Hand |
| Frame Material | Steel |
| Barrel Material | Steel |
| Stock Material | Wood |
| Finish | Case Hardened |
Calibers
- .54 Burnside · primary — also known as .54 Burnside Carbine
Features
- Firing modes: Manual
- Feed systems: Single Shot Breech Loading
- Safety mechanisms: Half Cock Hammer
- Features: Tilting Breechblock, Block Guide Screw, Double Hinged Loading Lever, Conical Brass Cartridge Gas Seal, Saddle Ring, Single Barrel Band, Hinged Rear Sight
Service history
Operators
- United States Army · adopted 1863 · as Model 1863
Production
Estimated total produced: 43,000 · Production years: 1863-1865
Approximately 43,000 Fifth Model carbines produced in their own serial range; the most numerous Burnside pattern and third most-issued carbine of the Civil War
Origin
Country of origin: United States
Designer: Ambrose Burnside
Discontinued: 1865
Notes
Officially designated Model 1863 by the U.S. Ordnance Department though the receivers were stamped 'MODEL OF 1864.' The Fifth Model's sole meaningful change over the Fourth Model was the block guide screw on the right of the receiver. Of roughly 55,500 Burnside carbines delivered to the government across all models, about 43,000 were Fifth Models.
Background
The last and most plentiful of the Burnsides, the Fifth Model soldiered through the closing campaigns of the Civil War in such numbers that unfired examples still surface today, a quiet monument to the general whose whiskers gave the language 'sideburns' long after his carbine went out of service.