4/3/2018 THE CARTRIDGE COLLECTOR

Close up and personal with two Confederate Morse cartridges......

Confederate .50 Morse cartridges don't tend to be found in
multiples, but the two pictured here were among five that were
owned by a gun collector in Virginia, along with a leather
cartridge box and the Morse carbine they were found with. In
1983, three of the cartridges were given by the gun collector to
the gentleman I got these two from. They are so much alike, from
the profiles and condition of their bullets to the dimensions of
their cases, that I can't help but believe that they were
manufactured at the same time and on the same equipment. The
cases were made from drawn brass tubing and exhibit flaws that
were produced during the manufacturing process. The one on the
left has areas where the outer surface of the brass has
delaminated, giving it the appearance of having been made from
thin brass foil. Three striations running the full length of the case
can be clearly seen on the one on the right. Both are primed with
common musket caps, and their gutta percha sealing plugs are
still in place in the bases.

The dimensions of these two are as follows:

Left:
bullet - .534"
neck - .542"
base - .550"
rim - .680"
case length - 1.506"
overall length - 2.142"

Right:
bullet - .533"
neck - .546"
base - .550"
rim - .678"
case length - 1.509"
overall length - 2.143"

Comparing four other .50 Morse cartridges for which dimensions were provided that I found in several different
publications reveals that there didn't appear to be very close tolerances applied to the production of these
cartridges, as all differed fairly significantly from each other in one or more of the dimensions. The high and low
extremes of the dimensions of the four cartridges are as follows:

bullet - .494" to .530"

neck - .539" to .547"
base - .535" to .553"
rim - .623" to .673"
case length - 1.500" to 1.573"
overall length - 2.143" to 2.160"

Note that the dimensions of the two pictured cartridges all fall very close to, if not within, these ranges. I would
like hear from others who have examples of the Confederate Morse cartridge in their collections; and would very
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much appreciate it if they would provide me with the dimensions and descriptions of their cartridges.

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