Authentic Cartridges for Reenacting & Shooting
Quality Recreated Ammunition for the Living Historian, discerning black powder shooter, &c.
Closed for deployment -- back in 2014

IMPORTANT UPDATE 19 FEBRUARY 2013 

I am working hard to fill lots of orders, in the order that they were received. At this time, I am not accepting any more orders except for some live-fire bullets that I have in stock, which are already cast, and ready to ship. 

I am an Army reservist, and I am deploying later this year. Unfortunately I do not have the time to train, prepare, and plan for the deployment and simultaneously meet the growing demand for authentic cartridges and black powder ammunition. 

I understand the 2013 reenacting season is approaching, and I apologize for any inconvenience. You may consider making your own authentic cartridges, by following the patterns and details provided on the Authentic Cartridges page.

Please accept my very, very sincere thank you for your business over the years, since I started making authentic cartridges in 2008. Keep your powder dry,

Brett

  


Click picture to enlarge.  


Authentic 69-caliber living history cartridge tubes -- These cartridges are exact, painstaking blank reproductions of the original 69-caliber ball cartridge.  They are almost absurdly realistic. 

These are completely inert reenactment-safe living history cartridges. They contain NO POWDER and NO BULLET: tissue paper is used to safely replicate the round ball used in the period ammunition. You will need to fill the cartridges with the appropriate measure of powder (110 grains was the historical load for the M1842) and fold the tails, but otherwise these rounds are ready to fill your cartridge box and take to the field.

The originals did not contain a powder cylinder, but I have made these cartridges with an unnoticeable paper barrier in between the tissue paper "bullet" and the gunpowder, which prevents powder grains from getting stuck in the cartridge nose. 

I can fit up to 100 in a single USPS Priority Mail box. These rounds are tedious and painstaking for me to make, so if you want more than 100, please e-mail or call to check availability.

SOLD OUT
 


 

Click to enlarge

"...the only pattern of cartridge to be hereafter used with muzzle loading rifled small arms shall be that known as the English pattern of Enfield cartridge."
      -- Colonel Josiah Gorgas, Chief of Ordnance, C.S.A., February 9, 1864                       

Authentic Enfield living history cartridge tubes -- These are reproductions of the Enfield pattern rifle-musket cartridge, used extensively by the Confederacy. Tens of millions came through the blockade, and millions more were produced domestically at Confederate arsenals. They are the "short pattern" variety, made to the original British specification, and will fit in both U.S. and British style cartridge boxes. For more information than you ever wanted to know about the P/53 Enfield cartridge, see the Authentic Cartridge page on this site.

For Confederate infantry at 150th Anniversary events, the Enfield-style cartridge is accurate for an 1863 impression. Repro Augusta Arsenal pack labels dated 1863 are available upon request, free with order. 

These are completely inert reenactment-safe living history cartridges. They contain NO POWDER and NO BULLET: tissue paper is used to safely replicate the original Pritchett bullet. They don't come in arsenal packs, but if you want them packaged we can make them up into arsenal packs (again, without powder). E-mail or call if you want them in arsenal packs.

Once you fill the cartridges with about 65 grains of powder, they're ready to go directly into your cartridge box. 
I can ship up to 120 of them in a single USPS Priority Mail box. If you want more than 120, please e-mail or call for better shipping rates and to check availability.

SOLD OUT


 
"Cartridges constructed on these principles present a neat and convenient form for carrying the powder and ball attached to each other... So far as they have been tried in the hands of the troops they have been found to answer a good purpose." 
      -- Reports of Experiments with Small arms for the Military Service, 1855

Authentic .58-caliber Minie living history cartridges -- Used extensively by both sides in the War Between the States, these .58-cal blank cartridge tubes are made to the period specifications laid down by the U.S. Ordnance Department in 1855 (and approved by then-Secretary of War Jefferson Davis).  The cartridges are tied with unbleached linen thread and have an internal powder cylinder, as the original pattern specified.

These are completely inert reenactment-safe living history cartridges. They contain NO POWDER and NO BULLET.  Tissue paper is used to safely replicate the original Minie bullet.

You'll have to fill the cartridges with your own powder and fold the "tails" closed (click here to see how to fold the cartridge tail), but other than that, they are ready to take out to the field. For more details on how these cartridges were made and used historically during the Civil War, check out the Authentic Cartridges page. 

I can ship up to 120 of them in a single USPS Priority Mail box. If you want more than 120, please e-mail or call for better shipping rates and to check availability.  

SOLD OUT




As they come...
Once you fill and fold the rounds, they'll look something like this

Living History Authentic Cartridge Set --  Great for comparing and displaying the three most common cartridge types used during the War of Secession, especially for living history! Includes ten 58-caliber Minie rounds, ten short-pattern Enfield cartridges, and ten 69-caliber round ball cartridges (30 rounds total). The cartridges are reenactment and living history safe, and contain NO POWDER and NO LEAD with the bullets simulated by tissue paper. You can fill the rounds with the appropriate measure of black powder and use 'em on the field, or fill them with an inert powder substitute to use for display. $14 plus shipping with USPS Priority Mail.

SOLD OUT


Can't find what you need on this webpage? Contact Will Abbot to receive a price list for MANY different types of beautifully recreated museum-quality bullets and cartridges for reenactors, living historians, and discerning black powder target shooters. 

Will also makes arsenal packs for display and the field.  
Will Abbot
cartridgetubes@gmail.com
(406) 626-3099


 



 Who Are We? 

Brett Gibbons is the First Sergeant of Hart's Engineers, a Confederate engineer company located on the West Coast (there's several thousand Civil War reenactors out here, see Brett's essay on West Coast Reenacting), and first started selling authentic cartridges when other members of his reenacting unit began offering to pay for the rounds he brought to the events to use himself. Brett is a reserve officer in the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps, and has a degree in history.

Will Abbot has been a student and shooter of the arms of the 1800's for many years and is the Historic Arms Demonstrator at the Nevada City Living History Museum, Virginia City, Montana Territory.  Will has provided accurate reproduction cartridges, based on study of originals and historic resources, to educators and shooters in the US and the UK. He is the photographer and contributing technical advisor for the soon to be published book; The Western Heritage Project with Montana State University Extension.

The musket used as a divider on this site is taken from the illustrated plates of the 1850 U.S. Ordnance Manual.
Brett Gibbons, Proprietor  --  CartridgeTubes.com
PO Box 1744, Oak View, CA, 93022
pgbearcat@msn.com -- (805) 218-2214