Lindcott Armory Rimfire · Proprietary
.54 Burnside
Proprietary brass cartridge for the Burnside Carbine, one of the most-issued Civil War cavalry weapons; a transitional design with a hole in the base for the percussion cap..
- Caliber
- 0.561″ · 14.25 mm
- Introduced
- 1857
- Case
- Special
- Primary use
- Military service
- Status
- Discontinued
- Introduced
- 1857
- Type
- Rimfire
- Origin
- United States
- Inventor
- Ambrose Burnside
- Standard
- Proprietary
- Status
- Discontinued
- Availability
- Rare
- Primer
- Rimfire
- Case type
- Special
- Eff. range
- 200 yd
Ballistics
- Parent case
- —
Representative trajectory — modeled from a single velocity input (no published BC for this cartridge yet).
Dimensionscase measurements · scale drawing · size vs familiar rounds
Case dimensions — the scale drawing at the top of the page is built from these.
Wikipedia · approximate| Measure | mm | in | ✓ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bullet ⌀ | 14.25 | 0.561 | ~ |
| Neck ⌀ | 13.97 | 0.550 | ~ |
| Shoulder ⌀ | n/a | ||
| Shoulder angle | n/a | ||
| Base ⌀ | — | — | |
| Rim ⌀ | — | — | |
| Belt ⌀ | n/a | ||
| Rim thickness | — | — | |
| Neck length | n/a | ||
| Case length | — | — | |
| Overall length | 61.47 | 2.420 | ~ |
Missing a dimension for .54 Burnside? Some case measurements aren't in a published SAAMI/CIP drawing yet. Have a factory or reamer print? Send it → — verified hard-to-find data earns a free Lindcott sticker.
Firearms chambered in .54 Burnside
1 model in the database chamber .54 Burnside. Browse all →
Connected reference
History
Developed in 1857 by Ambrose Burnside for his Burnside Carbine, this is a transitional cartridge — the tapered brass case held the bullet and powder, but required a separate percussion cap at the base rather than being fully self-contained. Over 55,000 Burnside Carbines were issued to Union cavalry during the Civil War, making this one of the more historically significant 19th-century cartridges.
FAQs
- What bullet diameter is .54 Burnside?
- .54 Burnside uses a 0.561″ (14.25 mm) diameter bullet.
- Is .54 Burnside still in production?
- .54 Burnside is discontinued; typical availability is rare.
Sources & provenance
- ReferenceGun Digest Books — Cartridges of the World (Frank C. Barnes) — obsolete American section, .54 Burnside entry · year, grain weights, bullet ⌀
- SecondaryWikipedia — Burnside carbine · velocity, bullet ⌀archived
Data & sources. Specs compiled from the Lindcott Armory reference; the trajectory is modeled (point-mass), not measured. See methodology. Spotted an error? Report it →