The Use, Reline, or Replace Conundrum

By Jim Van Eldik Iredell

The N-SSA Forum is a popular place for Internet explorers of firearm enthusiasts. While its primary emphasis is on providing a flea market for buying selling, or trading plunder of our ilk, occasionally there are discussions that occasionally approach the level of profound, usually in the Shooting Techs, Tips, & Tricks section. One of these occurred this past July. Mr. John Westenberger of the 1st Pennsylvania Cavalry purchased an original 1861 Springfield model of the “Trenton contract” persuasion. Of course, like all good N-SSAers, he wanted to shoot it.

Before one ventures any advice on shooting these old guns it’s incumbent that we establish a firm profile on its condition. Mr. Westenberger’s pegged the Trenton’s current posture at “as found.” The problem here was he did not specify “as found” where. If found in a museum, condition is generally superb; if found in a chicken coop, desirability generally drops off precipitously. Obviously, additional clarification was needed, which Mr. Westenberger did provide. He noted that the gun was “well used,” and was “used as a hunting rifle for decades.” Probably most significant, he noted that when he sought to shoot it using a .579 minie, “the bullet dropped all the way to the bottom freely without the rammer.” He concluded the gun “precludes anything but an old time minie.” He was essentially interested in how the N-SSA gurus would attack the problem, the options for consideration being: use as is. reline or re-barrel.

Of note – he provided no photographs of the gun. While a number of skirmishers came online with suggestions for a variety of bullet sizes and configurations, the strongest arguments were made for re-barreling. They were offered by such N-SSA heavy hitters such as John Bly, Joe Plakis, CA Gerringer, and probably most noteworthy, by N-SSA sage Don Dixon. Don offered a couple of most succinct arguments:

“Relining will destroy any value it might have to a collector,” and, “One of the objectives of the N-SSA is supposed to be the preservation of original Civil War weapons. Reline a serviceable weapon that meets original service standards so that you can skirmish with it? I go back to my original response.”

Don’s comments caught my eye on two fronts.

Through all my years in the N-SSA, with the 20th Georgia, with the 44th Georgia, with the Iredell Blues, with Forrest’s Escort, with the Iredell Blues again, I have never heard mentioned that one of our objectives is to preserve original weapons. Now myself and my teammates have owned and used numerous original Civil War firearms (we’ll switch to the more appropriate term here), have had countless discussions on how to make the guns shoot more accurately, and explored a variety of methods and products to properly maintain them, I have absolutely