Can anyone tell me the manufacture dates from and to, for Boxer's primers?
- Oct 1865 - I see documentation from October 1865 when Col. Boxer informed he was successful in making a cartridge for the Snider Enfield rifle.
- Aug 1866 - The Mark I was approved for service.
- May-Dec 1867 - various improvements
- June 1869 - US Patent approved for Boxer's "METALLIC cartridge design (primer may not have been included in the patent)...no more paper cartridges for the Snider
- Dec 1871 - More improvements but still only using a "foil" for the case itself. The case head is still made up of several separate components that are held in place with the two-piece "rivet" style primer.
- Date Unknown to me - The Eley-Boxer .500 still used the Boxer patent case design with the rivet style primer.
Snider Mark I through Mark VII, ending dates I have yet to see.
The British continued to use the Berdan style 1868 patent cases with "Berden" primers for years if not even today. But why in the heck do they call every solid head case out there a "Boxer" when the Boxer cases were not of the solid head design? Nor was the "Boxer" primer design anything like the Hotchkiss, Hobbs, Orcutt cartridge case solid head patents or primer designs we all know well today?
It would appear that Milbank actually got the first single primer patent, while Hobbs and Orcutt followed with another primer patent. Oliver Winchester patented his primer design in 1874, first used in the 44 WCF cartridge.
Garner's well recognized primer of 1876 (Winchester) and even Hobbs, again patenting another extremely recognized primer in 1882 (OF WHICH WE AMERICANS STILL USE TODAY).
Benet had a great design in 1866 but never applied for a patent, his design was mis-credited as Boxer's primer in 1873 on a Frankford Arsenal Plate and is probably were all the chaos started. Not only was there that screw up, but also mis-labeled on the same Plate was Bardan as being Russian!
Geeeesh!
So hear ya have it, rather than Berdan vs Boxer, it should be Berdan vs American!!!
Here, I fixed it for ya!
Boxer cartridge is not even a solid head cartridge