William's bullet question

[fyrffytr1]

I know William's cleaner bullets were used during the civil war. My question is when did they stop using them?

[DixieHunter145]

Although I can't give you an exact date on when William's Cleaners stopped being used. I can tell you some facts.
The Type 1 William's bullet was invented to clean the bore of the rifles from build up and residue caused by multiple firings. This particular type was invented by Elijah Williams who was issued a patent in early 1862. After approval by the Union Government, the first round were issued to Federal soldiers mid 1862. Rumor has it that many experienced and veteran soldiers refused to fire the William's rounds. This is why the majority of the rounds found today are dropped. Oh I forgot to mention, William's Cleaner rounds are come standard in 58. cal


**Interesting Fact**

Type 3 of the rounds were said to cause poising of the bullet wound which eventually escalated in gangrene. Many "ethical" soldiers also refused to fire this round for this reason.

[fyrffytr1]

I did some more resaerch on my question( I called my younger brother) and came up with a possible answer. As long as muzzle loaders were in use so would the bullets. If I am right, there was an 1876 Springfield so it would be reasonable to believe that the Williams Cleaners were used into the 1880s and maybe the 90s.

[l.cutler]

The last muzzleloading Springfield was made during the Civil War. The model 1865 and later were breechloaders.

[fyrffytr1]

The last muzzleloading Springfield was made during the Civil War. The model 1865 and later were breechloaders.

Thanks for that info. I wonder how long after the War they were used?

[21stTNCav]

It seems that the US Government was reluctant to invest major sums after the Civil War into new arms technology so they Muzzleloader soldiered on until the 1873 Springfield breechloader was issued. By this time the Army was much smaller so it would have been relatively much easier to supply these arms to all units. This being said it too used black powder and I do not know if a cleaner bullet was used with them. I would say all Williams type cleaner bullets were out of use by 1875 or so.

http://www.answers.com/topic/u-s-army-1866-99

[Old Town]

Cleaner bullets of all kinds continued to be used as long as men used blackpowder arms. By 1892, many guns had made the transfer to smokeless. With smokeless powder and the new copper jacketed bullets used in rifles, the cleaner was not needed. Blackpowder leaves a very hard, thick coating inside the barrels of guns it's used in. Proper bullet lube goes a long way toward defeating this but it was not a cure. Only the new nitro powders and metal jackets ended the cleaner bullet.

Old Town