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.50/45 FRANKFORD ARSENAL AMMUNITION PACKET - 20
ROUND BENET PRIMED CARBINE AND CADET ROUNDS:
This packet of .50-45 Internally Benet Primed Centre
Fire Cartridges, is one of the scarcer loadings provided
by the Springfield Armory and the Frankford Arsenal
during the early Indian Wars Period. Based on available
Ordnance Department correspondence of the time, this
reduced loading of the standard .50-70 cartridge using
the same weight bullet, seems to have been first
introduced for the Model 1866 Cadet Rifles, and later
for the Model 1869 Cadet Rifles with an additional 10
grains of powder. However, as documented in exchanges
of letters between Gen. Sherman, Gen. Dyer and Col.
Benton, by 1869 and 1870 the leadership of the army and
in particular the Ordnance Department was considering
and recommending this reduced loading for use in
carbines and an experimental trapdoor pistol. The
opinions in play felt the reduced loading would be best
for these smaller arms, although recommending that the
carbines (the pistols were never adopted) be capable of
firing the heavier .50-70 cartridge should a shortage of
the smaller cartridge occur.
This packet has been opened, however with the exception
of the top panel, the box retains its full form, and the
fully legible label is complete and intact on the front
of the box. All 20 Internally Benet Primed cartridges
are in the packet and are in excellent condition. The
balance of the box is complete with all the seams intact
and the paper wrapper present, as well as the cartridge
divider boards. In one respect, this opened packet is a
plus as it allows the collector to view the 20
cartridges. In the
photographs below, an example of the .50-45 cartridge is
shown next to the larger .50-70 cartridge for
comparison. The .50-70 cartridge is not included
in this offering, but is available under a separate
listing in this section.
Whether these smaller cartridges were not produced in
any great numbers or they were issued and consumed
during the period of use is not definitely known, but
surviving packets of this loading are scarce and are
seldom found in all but the most advanced Indian War
cartridge collections. $650
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