Range Report 14JUN2026: Comparing the Smith and Burnside Carbines

I spent my Sunday at the Church of the Holy Black Powder.  Among other things, today saw a head-to-head comparison between my Burnside and Smith carbines.

Shooting Conditions: Sunny and clear.  80 degrees, wind from 5:00 at ~5-10 mph. Humidity 37%.

Range: 50 yards
Position: Rest
Sighting: Full sight, 6:00 hold.
For reference, the black disk on the targets is 3 inches in diameter.

Burnside Load: 45 grains of Swiss 2F under a card wad and a .563-caliber bullet weighing 365 grains in a nylon case.

Smith Load: 35 grains of Schuetzen 3F powder (I found some older cartridges—nowadays I only shoot Swiss, but wanted to use these up) with a nitrated paper base and a Smith reproduction bullet from Eras Gone Bullet Molds in a nylon case.

Table of Fire One: Burnside
String: 27.0 in.
Rounds: 10
String Test: 2.7 in./rd.

ToF One: Burnside.

Table of Fire Two: Smith
String: 23.25 in.
Rounds: 10
String Test: 2.3 in./rd.

ToF Two: Smith.

Observations
Although I maintain my opinion that the Smith carbine was the best carbine of the Civil War, there is but little to choose between it and the Burnside.  Actually, the Burnside does an even better job of preventing gas release than the Smith (which is one of the best for that), but it is a bit more “finicky” about loading cartridges and removing the spent cases.  The Smith is simply easier to load, operate, and remove the spent case.

I am at a loss to explain the vertical stringing in ToF One.  The first round fired is the highest hit on the paper, so we can ignore that and call it a fouling shot, maybe, but even so, half the shots went high and half went right into the black.  Nor was that me adjusting the aim and working my way down:  I aimed the same way every time, and the hits were random.  I honestly don’t know if I was doing something weird or if maybe the loads were off somehow (e.g., bullets not seated correctly).  Still, that spread is only about 8 inches, with no horizontal deviation, so that’s excellent.  I really think that when I get this worked out, this carbine will be able to give my Smith a run for its money.

I absolutely love these new Burnside bullets.  Not only are they the most historically correct of the various styles I have tried, but they shoot the best.  As a result, I actually bought the SAECO mold for them from Buffalo Arms.  It was hideously expensive, but worth it, I think.

Obviously, the Smith did best today.  The Smith always does best.  It’s the only historical firearm I own that I know, without any doubts, will have zero mishaps at the range and will always have a String Test of less than 2.5 in./rd.  Actually, although not shown here, I got a String Test of only 1.75 in./rd. in a later Table of Fire because I was adjusting my aim, which I did not want to do for the above ToF in order to gauge precision, not accuracy.  I need to take two, maybe three, more file strokes to the front sight blade and I think it will start putting all ten in the black.  I think the reason it’s shooting slightly right is that the front sight may be slightly bent, so I’ll mess with that a bit, too.

Regarding the powder used, I have stopped using Schuetzen because it’s almost as weak and dirty as Goex, but when preparing to go today I found some old cartridge packs of Smith ammo loaded with Schuetzen, so I decided to shoot them to get rid of them.  As you can see, they shot well, but the difference in how fouled the carbines were was stark.