Custers last stand rifles

[dust411]

my grandpa was a western gun collector. when he passed away my grandma auctioned off all the collection except for 2 rifles in whitch they were used in custers last stand. where do you think we could find the serial numbers that were asigned to the men who were in that event?

[rugerwheels]

Are these 2 rifles Springfield 1873's as used by the Army or Winchester, Henry, etc. rifles used by the Indians? Firearms experts disagree on the serial numbers of the Springfields used at the Little Big Horn. Claims range from serial number range 30000 to 40000 range, and from 1 to 500. Would also be curious as to how use of these rifles at The Little Big Horn is documented. To my knowledge no rifles have ever been proven to have been there.

[dust411]

there henrys, used by the U.S. its told that after the battle at little bighorn the indians took all the guns and then there was a death sentence put out for anyone one who had one and then all the indians got rid of them out of fear. if we could find somewhere to get serial numbers we could prove thats where they came from. seeing that is we could match the serial numbe to the soldier who died at little bighorn.

[32 Magnum]

Here's some info on the weapons used during that battle - based upon forensic information - very accurate.

[A square 10]

jim , did you remove the link or forget to add it ?

[Stan in SC]

The troops under Custer were armed with Springfield 1873 "trapdoor" rifles.There were no Henry rifles issued.

Stan in SC

[32 Magnum]

Here's the link to the web site I posted about above - dang it, getting too old, memory evaporates before I can form a thought - now what were we talking about?:dontknow:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/fts/billings_201002F01.html

[ccmsd]

Eer?

customer of horns (little & big) wasn't it? :confused:

Cheers
ccmsd

[A square 10]

thanks jim , ive seen lots on this topic but not that , i was going to point out that custers men were armed with the springfield trapdoor carbine and the indians had the henrys and that type of repeater , but wanted to see if there was new info i had not seen ,

i know there have been more than one forensic review of the site since my first visit in the early 1960s , and many changes as well to the management and preservation , but it is indeed a thought provoking and conversational stimulating topic , and remains one i have interest in ,

[32 Magnum]

A tragic but fascinating topic, indeed. I've read a recantation of the battle as written/spoken by a couple of the Indian participants which, IIRC, was put down around 1900. It gave a new view of what happened. Of course, if two people witness an event - there will be two viewpoints and variations in the story. I like the idea of finding bullets and logging their locations - to give a factual representation of where the "targets" were located.