People who study the development of firearms sometimes pay scant attention to the development of ammunition, and yet the two are intrinsically linked. Ammunition, especially that intended for military use, went through numerous iterations as people tried to find ways to make ammunition that was inexpensive, easy and fast to load, and accurate. In addition, military ammunition needed to be durable enough to store, transport, and to be handled by soldiers in rough field conditions.
In the mid-nineteenth century flintlocks could still occasionally be seen, and breech-loading metallic cartridge weapons were starting to appear, but the majority of firearms of the period were cap locks. Cap lock firearms have an external nipple or cone set into the chamber. A percussion cap is placed onto the cone and a hammer strikes the cap, igniting the powder and discharging the weapon.
Early cap loader ammunition for the military was little different from that used in flintlocks: A paper cartridge held a greased bullet and loose powder; the paper was ripped open, the powder poured loose into the bore, and the bullet (still sometimes wrapped in paper) was forced down onto the powder with a ramrod. This process was tedious and uncertain, but the introduction of combustible cartridges changed things for the better. Typical combustible cartridges had an envelope of combustible material which was filled with powder and then glued to the rear of a bullet. Combustible cartridges were significantly easier to use because the entire cartridge was placed in the breech of a weapon in a single unit before being rammed down.
The majority of military combustible cartridges of this period were made from rag paper soaked in a solution of potassium nitrate to make it burn easily. These were extremely effective, and the art of making them has resurfaced today among hobbyists interested in black-powder firearms. Another material used for combustible cartridges was animal intestines, a process far less understood today. Although somewhat tedious to make, skin cartridges had the advantage that they could be shellacked in order to make them somewhat waterproof. This material was never common, but we know it was used, and now, thanks to Making the Skin Cartridge by W. J. L. Schroeder, we know how to do it.
Mr. Schroeder has a lifetime of firearms experience, a fact his book demonstrates plainly. In it, he gives detailed and insightful instructions for making skin cartridges which will enable a reader who already understands black powder firearms and combustible cartridges to recreate this fascinating style of ammunition. He explains how to select, acquire, and prepare the intestines; how to form them into sheets of the correct size; how to form them into shells; how to fill them with powder and bullets; and how to shellac them for storage. He provides numerous tips and tricks for making the process work and for correcting problems that arise during manufacture. This book contains all the information needed to make skin cartridges that will work perfectly in cap lock rifles or pistols, resurrecting a fascinating lost art.
It must be noted, however, that Making the Skin Cartridge was written for people who already have experience with black-powder firearms and with making paper cartridges; it is not a book for novices. Mr. Schroeder does not give detailed instructions for making the formers needed to make skin cartridges (although he provides several pictures of the ones he uses), nor for the details of filling them, such as appropriate cartridge loads. Other reviews I have read criticize this lack, but such criticisms reflect more upon the modern “do everything for me” attitude of the reviewer than on the value of Mr. Schroeder’s work. Skin cartridges should be seen as an advanced skill, and the author makes that plain in his introduction.
In addition to the information about making skin cartridges, Mr. Schroeder includes a number of small articles about various areas of interest, some related to firearms and some not, including cast bullets, lubrication, barrel problems, and cartridge loading issues. He also includes a few brief articles about 19th-century areas of interest and a brief but amusing anecdote about a certain crow of his acquaintance. In a way, these additions give the book something of the flavor of an old “commonplace book.”
Although well written and engaging, Making the Skin Cartridge evinces some editing issues, including spelling and formatting errors, as well as a few noticeable malapropisms (e.g., “patients” for “patience” in a few places). It lacks both a table of contents and an index. Such problems are endemic among self-published books, but as the author points out, he is not a writer, and this is not set forth as a work of high literature. Rather, the author’s intention was to give those interested in historical ammunition the benefit of his wealth of knowledge and skill acquired over a lifetime of study and practice, and for that, the book serves well—even admirably. Perhaps its only substantive failing is that it lacks detailed historical documentation about its subject since Mr. Schroeder only addresses the mechanical process of cartridge making.
This book is self-published by the author. It is perfect bound, with the binding being well done and serviceable, in a six- by nine-inch format, and is seventy-six pages in length. The printing is clean and the font is sized well. The numerous diagrams are easy to understand, and the photographs are fairly small but clear. It is available from Amazon and from the author.
I heartily recommend this excellent book to anyone with an interest in historical ammunition or firearms, even those who have no intention of attempting to replicate skin cartridges.
This review is copyright © 2022 by Hugh T. Knight, Jr. Permission is granted to freely copy and/or
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