[DL] The Winchester'73 for the Union Army?

[Michael Robert Blair <pellinoire@yahoo.com>]

So the Union army use the Winchester Model 1873? I
think this is a bad decision but I can see where you
are coming from.

The M1873 fires a PISTOL round that is not in the army
supply chain but that is similar to one that already
is, the .45 Army. So logistically it would make sense
for the army to have standardised on the .44-40 for
pistols as well, easy enough as the Colt SAA was
already made in this chambering.

The war in the east had bogged down in static trench
warfare, so a light, handy magazine weapon makes
sense: ranges are short and with trench raids volume
of fire is important. This would give the Union troops
an edge in the trenches compared with the Confederates
Martini-Henry, but their love of big-ass knives and
shotguns would counter this.
In the open, i.e. In the West, the Martini-Henry has
the edge with much greater potential range.

In the real ACW the army liked the Spencer carbine and
was standardising on its ammunition as the war ended.
Had the war continued this would have continued and
the weaker, more fragile Henry would have been edged
out. In 1877 what we would have been more likely to
have seen is a derivative of the Spencer firing a more
powerful centerfire cartridge. Trapdoor Springfields
might be used for long ranged fire and in the Western
theatre. The Evans with its huge magazine would be of
interest but was clumsy and delicate, it would not
survive trench conditions.

Which brings me to another sore point, 4d8 is way to
high for the damage from a Winchester ’73, it is a
pistol cartridge, with a slightly higher velocity
because of the closed action and a longer barrel but a
jump from 3d6 to 4d8 because it is fired from a rifle?

Man carried automatic weapons really need smokeless
powder. Black powder produces vast amounts of smoke
and is filthy, so automatic weapons would need very
frequent cleaning or quick change barrels.

Other weapons we might see because of Trench Warfare:
1. Popularity of shotguns, so we could expect to see
the Winchester M1887 a bit early.
2. Heavy sniper’s rifles. Probably Sharps’ Buffalo
rifles and ruggedised Creedmoor types. 
3. Small mortars.
4. Grenades. Modern hand grenades originated in the
trenches (siege of Port Arthur in the Russo-Japanese
war I think) so in Deadlands we could logically expect
them to appear.
5. Long range artillery and Ghost rock powered
missiles to reach beyond the trenches. Guns are
difficult as the technology is not good enough, fire
control, metallurgy and propellants are all inadequate
so rockets or even some form of winged missile are
likely. I don’t expect guided weapons or great range
though. Something like the Katyuasha. After all the
British army had Hale rockets until 1914. Rockets with
their lower accelerations would also allow dynamite to
be used for the warhead. Though I do like the idea of
huge Zalinsky airguns around Washington firing
dynamite shells.

I don’t think this one is really likely but it sounds
like fun. An 1877 version of the V2. This is really,
really scary. It would change everything, especially
if the warhead was more than explosives. This would
make a dandy scenario though; destroy the mad
scientist and his lab developing the secret
Confederate vengeance weapon. See the book ‘Anti Ice’
for more ideas.


Michael

____________________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get your free @yahoo.co.uk address at http://mail.yahoo.co.uk
or your free @yahoo.ie address at http://mail.yahoo.ie