Raised Ring
- A raised band around the circumference of a bullet. Usually found on bullets for breechloading weapons where these raised bands were to engage the rifling in the barrel.
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Ramrod
- A rod of iron used in loading a piece to drive home the charge.*
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Revolver
- A revolver is a hand-held firearm which includes a cylinder with a number of chambers (usually 6) containing cartridges. The cartridges were fired one at a time. During the Civil War, revolvers were issued primarily to cavalrymen, although some light artillerymen also carried them. Because of its convenient size and weight, the revolver was the weapon preferred by most officers.
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Rifle
- The rifle is a shoulder arm with a rifled bore. In the mid-19th century, the rifle was distinguished from the musket or rifle-musket by its length, which was usually about 49 inches. The shorter length of the rifle was ideal for mounted infantry troops or troops serving as skirmishers, where added maneuverability was important. When breechloading infantry arms were introduced at the time of the Civil War, the length of the rifle was considered to be perfect. These breechloading rifles also offered increased loading speed. See “Ordnance Rifle” as it refers to field artillery.
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Rifled Bore Arms
- The rifle-musket is a shoulder arm with a length of about 56 inches which was manufactured with a rifled bore. The United States adopted its first rifle-musket in 1855. It quickly replaced the common musket as standard issue to the Regular Army. The model 1855 rifle-musket fired a new bullet shaped projectile known as the Minie ball. Its high degree of accuracy was a factor in the Civil War.
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Rifled Musket
- The rifled musket is a rifled shoulder arm which was originally manufactured with a smooth bore. When small arms with rifled bores became general issue in the U. S. Army after 1855, small arms with smooth bores became obsolete. As an economy measure, many of the stockpiles of smoothbore muskets on hand were sent back to various manufacturing points to have rifling grooves cut into the bore. These rifled muskets were issued to militia units or placed in storage for an emergency.
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Rifle-Musket
- The rifle-musket is a shoulder arm with a length of about 56 inches which was manufactured with a rifled bore. The United States adopted its first rifle-musket in 1855. It quickly replaced the common musket as standard issue to the Regular Army. The model 1855 rifle-musket fired a new bullet shaped projectile known as the Minie ball. Its high degree of accuracy was a factor in the Civil War.
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Rifling
- The spiral inside a gun barrel. Consisting of a number of lands and grooves. This is what gave spin to bullets and increased accuracy.
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Ring
- See "Raised Ring"
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*
definitions from "Military Dictionary", Col. H.L. Scott, 1861
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