Shooting STARR Civil War Carbines

Loading ammo for and shooting of Starr Civil War Carbines

[@bunkstagner298]

This is ma new one on me. Fantastic gun nicely presented. Sort of a rolling block and percussion Sharps with all the good parts of both.

[@dr.durellshepard398]

Yes Sir, it's a Sharps wanna-be but with a two part block, as you described. Thanks for watching.

[@nilo70]

Thanks Doc ! Another wonderful example for how to start my day ! Thank you Sir , for making these videos.

[@dr.durellshepard398]

Olin, Thanks for the kind comments, glad you enjoyed it. ....Doc

[@poppasquat8483]

Love the presentation, excellent work

[@dr.durellshepard398]

Thank you Sir.

[@richardsims1805]

Another perfect video on the Starr carbine!

[@dr.durellshepard398]

Thank you Richard. I love the Sharps but the Starr breech is an excellent alternative.

[@maurocastagnetti3139]

Very useful video on the Starr carbine.

[@dr.durellshepard398]

Hello Sir, Glad you enjoyed the video. It was fun for me to do this project. ....Doc

[@bobo12055]

Thanks for the video. I have found some Starr carbine bullets relic hunting. they're a little different than a sharps bullet.

[@dr.durellshepard398]

Very Cool ! and good luck on your relic hunting. The Srarr bullets I have seen have an over sized ring at their base as in the drawing shown at 0:57 in the video. Regards....Doc

[@gainforlife5877]

Neat. Just got me an original 555 caliber Starr cap n ball carbine. Took the dimensions off of your vid of the original bore rider and am going to have that CNC cut with close friend of mine. Having spent quite some time with paper cartridge guns i´ve come to realize how much they benefit from bore riders so.. Said n done. All milling done on a multi axis CNC. We´ve made quite a few already as is, including hexagonal ones for my Whitworth, where the 1:20 rifling twist is thus cut into the mold. Again. Thx for showing the original bore rider dimensions!

[@dr.durellshepard398]

Hello Sir, Thank you for watching and Happy Shooting with your Starr. I'm glad you were able to find an origional.......Doc

[@gainforlife5877]

@@dr.durellshepard398 Well Sir. My pleasure. If you´ve got someone with a decent CNC around, let me know and we´ll send you the file. i.postimg.cc/RZxgxTQz/34.png There is the digital, somewhat simplified, rendering of it at least. Btw. I live over in Sweden, in Europe. Hence.. easier to send a digital file than a mold need be ;) Happy hunting as the saying goes and need be just hollar. I´ll be sure to check back.

[@gainforlife5877]

@@dr.durellshepard398 Btw. Here´s said Whitworth molds, or.. a pair of them at least. i.postimg.cc/gjnKbLd8/127.jpg Here in turn just as home brew for the Smith carbine i.postimg.cc/XY6rdvWP/14.jpg

[@gainforlife5877]

@@dr.durellshepard398 Then of course the Starr in case. (No pun intended) i.postimg.cc/ZRJPWY0d/7.jpg Pulled some work and now the thing both works and looks the part i´d say. Innards were worn beyond use so handled that and the seal of the lid for the chamber while at it. As is the thing is as tight, seal that is, as they come. Bar none. Blow down the barrel all you want, nothing comes out the other end :D i.postimg.cc/q72HGr0w/21.jpg

[@dr.durellshepard398]

@@gainforlife5877 I do not have access to a CNC but thanks so much for the generous offer. I know you put a lot of work into your modeling - rendering - CNC programs. Looks great, the original drawing came from Gen. John Pitman c.1895, who did a ton of drawing ( the old way ) for the arsenal. Also , your Starr looks super and with the work done on the seal etc., should be a safe and fun carbine to shoot. Molds look great too. I enjoyed your video on the Merrill very much, will have to get mine out of the vault and try it. ...Doc

[@Ирокез]

Отличный канал!Спасибо!

[@dr.durellshepard398]

пожалуйста

[@Dimwit_the_last_mountainman]

I am impressed with your videos, and I look forward to the next one! Wish I had your editing skills, en my antique gun videos, starring "Dimwit the last mountainman".

[@dr.durellshepard398]

Hi John, Glad you liked my video. I'm using DaVinci Resolve 12.5 software, it is a free download.

[@Dimwit_the_last_mountainman]

@@dr.durellshepard398 Thankyou! I need to learn editing, but these modern skills are difficult for me...

[@olympicblackpowderrifles3155]

Hope to see other rifles presented in this same fashion. Awesome production!

[@dr.durellshepard398]

@@olympicblackpowderrifles3155 Hi Steve, Thanks so much. I have five other antique firearms videos you may like on KZbin .

[@49walker44]

@@Dimwit_the_last_mountainman well John just change your name from dimwit to "Smartest mountain man alive", get DeVinche and in a week and 1/2 the Doc will feel ashamed.::)

[@jamesspeicher536]

Outstanding presentation. What brass cartridge did you use for the "work around"?

[@dr.durellshepard398]

Hello James, For the Type 2 Starr, I started with .50-70 Government brass which is available from multiple sources. This process is shown in fair detail in my video on the Merrimack Ballard rifle. Thanks for watching, ....Doc

[@a.r.m.4you182]

Soooo frustrated. Love your video and it gave me hope. I payed attention and followed your example on how to make the rimfire but Im using 56-50 Spencer cases (can't find 50-70 at the moment). My '65 Starr RF likes to hit the very edge of the case and misses the primer. I've tried many different ways and I hug the side of the case as I drill but w/o compromising the wall by thinning it out. Still can't get it. My cases come out looking just like yours but I guess my block/firing pin are just a bit finicky and prefer pinching the edge of the rim.

[@dr.durellshepard398]

Hello ARM, I had exactly the same problem as the round firing pin of the type II Starr is ground to a chisel wedge tip. It hits the primer on the ragged edge of despair. Sounds like you made the cases properly, getting as close to the rim without damaging the wall. I did have many miss fires that I edited out of that video.( The type I Starr shot flawlessly using the paper cartridges ) If the pin was completely round I suspect it would hit the primer very well. Can you remove the firing pin and make a temporary round one ? I wanted to try that myself but could not get the screw out that holds the pin. Sorry for any confusion ...........Doc

[@a.r.m.4you182]

@@dr.durellshepard398 Ahh. OK. So it's not just mine. The type I sounds like a lot of fun. Cap n ball BP is pretty hard to mess up unless you have a mushroomed nipple that you can't remove. I never knew Starr made a carbine until I ran across the one I found while I was on a trip. I found your video after I brought it home and decided to try it out. Like you mentioned the firing pin isn't very forgiving (no slop at all) and loves that outer edge. I can send you pics via email of my firing pin if you like.

[@dr.durellshepard398]

@@a.r.m.4you182 Can you get your firing pin out of the block ? .......Doc

[@a.r.m.4you182]

@@dr.durellshepard398 Yep. I'll send ya pics in just a sec.

[@453421abcdefg12345]

These guns are in excellent condition, still fully functioning over 100 years later, I wonder how many black plastic thing will be around in just 100 years time, I really like your idea of placing the cartridge end cap inside the case, this makes a much neater cartridge than trying to get it stuck on the outside, have you tied using flash paper? It is completely consumed and leaves no residue at all, and nothing to set light to the leaves! Chris B.

[@dr.durellshepard398]

Good morning Chris, I do prefer putting the end-papers inside the tube. As you say it is a cleaner look and it allows me to play with the graphics. I have used flash paper on occasion and boy-o-boy does that parer burn ! On the guns that ignite the cartridge from the side ( like the Jenks or Merrill ) as opposed to the end, I will use at least a nitrated paper. ....Doc

[@matthewbilly3252]

Great Video, what program did you used to copy the Starr carbine and transfer it to paper?

[@dr.durellshepard398]

Hello Matthew, I took a digital photo of the Carbine, pulled it into Paint, saved it as a Bit Map, which will paste directly into Auto Cad Lite, and Poly line traced it. I've seen old original paper cartridges with military graphics on them, which gave me the idea. Thanks for watching............Doc

[@matthewbilly3252]

@@dr.durellshepard398 I will have to look into this. I would like to write some articles on the rolling blocks in my collection and it would be nice to be able to make some line drawings so I could put dimensions on them.

[@dr.durellshepard398]

@@matthewbilly3252 CAD will let you draw anything you could imagine and dimension it but it can be expensive and there is a DOUBLE learning curve. I couldn't live without it now, so handy for all my creative projects. There are also many free drawing software packs...............Doc

[@hunterdeleo5542]

How tight is your breech block to your chamber? My carbine is in great condition but has some slop. I've played with other starr carbines and noticed the same thing.

[@dr.durellshepard398]

Hi Hunter, When it is in battery, there is really no play left to right, up- down, in - out................Doc

[@christianbellavia9851]

Doc, do you lubericate your .54 caliber Starr bullets? If so, what do you use?

[@dr.durellshepard398]

Good question Christian, I didn't show that in the video. You can't go wrong by using SPG. Also, please see the John Loken videos. We shoot many of the same guns and he uses a disc of beeswax under his bullets.

[@bunkstagner298]

I noticed a lot of gas leak with the type 1. Would a very thin O ring in the breech block grove lessen that gas leak and cutting? Neat guns and great work on your part to get them shooting after all these years.

[@dr.durellshepard398]

Good morning Bunk, After reviewing this video I see that most of the gas cloud blows towards the front , away from the shooter, so this would be from the primer cap. If the gas went straight up it would be from a leaky breech seal. I really didn't feel any on my face with this gun. Your idea of an o-ring would probably help a lot with a leaky block. Happy Shooting.....Doc

[@AirsoftEli2000]

It does work thin backer ring is perfect

[@TubeRadiosRule]

The inventor of this gun (and the Starr revolvers and "pepperbox" derringer) was my 5th cousin, six times removed!

[@dr.durellshepard398]

That's very interesting, Genealogy can be very rewarding. My Great Grand father was an inventor also. (P.S. ................hooray for the 6L6 and 35W4 )

[@TubeRadiosRule]

@@dr.durellshepard398 My wife is big into genealogy. We also learned that another Starr, one of my 11 times great grandfathers (Dr. Comfort Starr), was one of the original four founders of Harvard University, one of his grandsons married the daughter of the man that Bunker Hill (of Revolutionary War fame) was named for, and that ANOTHER of his grandsons (also named Comfort Starr) bought a house in Connecticut that is still standing and still occupied, one of the oldest wood-frame houses in the US still being lived in! Crazy, huh?

[@dr.durellshepard398]

@@TubeRadiosRule You have a lot to embrace and be proud of. My wife and I have done a lot of research, you can fill volumes and you are never done. Enjoy the journey.

[@TubeRadiosRule]

@@dr.durellshepard398 Thanks! Getting a Starr carbine is on my "bucket list" for my next tax refund...

[@AirsoftEli2000]

Nitrates tube bur thoroughly in the Starr without removing the spent tube.

[@dr.durellshepard398]

nitrated tube burn better, sometimes though for Starr carbine.

[@christianbellavia9851]

Great video. Would you be willing to share your Starr paper cartridge template you show in the video?

[@dr.durellshepard398]

Hi Christian, Thanks for watching. The dimensions are at 7:10 in the video. Do you have a Starr that you shoot ? ..............Doc

[@christianbellavia9851]

@@dr.durellshepard398 Much appreciated, Doc. Yes, the Starr Carbine is a fantastic weapon to shoot. In your paper rounds, how many grains of black powder do you use?

[@dr.durellshepard398]

@@christianbellavia9851 At 9:20 in the video you can see the number 20 written on the paper, so that one has 20 grains of FFg Swiss black, which will push a 495 grain bullet at about 500 fps. I'm very conservative on most of my loading, as you can see by the light recoil. The originals were filled with about 60 but I think my Swiss powder is hotter, so less is more... .....Doc

[@christianbellavia9851]

@@dr.durellshepard398 Great info. One last question, what type of glue do you use to attach the bullet to the paper cartridge? Thanks again.

[@dr.durellshepard398]

@@christianbellavia9851 Hi Christian, Paper to paper I used Elmer's all purpose glue stick. Paper to bullet I used Gorilla Super glue, but get the one that says brush-in-bottle, makes application a lot easier. I found that many times not all the paper burns up during the shot, so always check the chamber for embers before inserting the next round, or use nitrated paper...................Doc