HINGED CLIP WITH TWO .56 CAL. BILLINGHURST & REQUA CARTRIDGES

$975.00

Quantity Available: 1

Item Code: 2022-2886

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Offered here is a rare hinged clip for the Billinghurst-Requa Battery Gun. This is a 36” long piece that was made to hold 25 cartridges at once. Its condition is good with only some light surface rust visible.

With the clip are two complete non-dug cartridges. The brass cartridge case cylinder is closed with a machined base plug that contains an ignition hole. The bullet used in these has a solid base and four grooves. These were reloadable cartridge cases that were loaded with combustible cartridges made by D. C. Sage.  These specimens are in very good, solid condition.

The Billinghurst-Requa battery gun was an unusual piece of armament that resulted from an equally unusual partnership between two men from New York: William Billinghurst, a gunsmith, and Josephus Requa, a dentist. The design for the battery gun included 25 barrels mounted horizontally to a wheeled carriage. A clip holding twenty-five .56 caliber metallic cartridges was loaded in front of a bar at the barrel breeches. When the attached lever was manipulated, the cartridges were pushed forward into the barrels and the hammer on the single percussion cone was cocked.

Once the breeches were closed, a line of black powder was placed in a trough behind the cartridges, which had small holes in their bases through which to channel the powder ignition. A percussion cap was placed on the cone, a lanyard was attached to a trigger and then one person could pull the lanyard and fire all 25 barrels at once.

Because the cartridges were held together by a clip, all 25 could be removed at once, allowing for faster reloading. A crew of three men could fire the gun up to seven times per minute, creating a rate of fire of 175 rounds per minute.

Despite not having the official blessing of the U.S. Army, Billinghurst-Requa battery guns did see service during the Civil War, albeit on a much smaller scale. Fifty guns were produced with money raised from private backers. The 18th New York Independent Battery purchased a couple of those examples and used them in combat down in Louisiana. The battery’s guns were seen by Major General Quincy Gillmore, who ordered enough guns to outfit five batteries to aid in the capture of Fort Wagner on Morris Island, South Carolina, in 1863.   [jet] [ph:L]

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