Now I am not sure why this question came to my mind the other day on the drive home.  And maybe the answer is so simple I am just over thinking it.  Also part of the thing is that I haven't live fired my rifle so I don't have much experience in that manner.

When loading the weapons (enfield, springfield, AL, HF, etc..) does the paper go down along with the ball or is that dependant on the weapon (smoothbore vs rifled).

I am not asking this about being in a parade or reenactment, but what did the actual soldiers do?  I want to think I recalled a photo from within the lines at Petersburg and in the mud you could see the empty cartridges.  I will try to find that image again..

According to the manual: Hardees 1862 for example:
4. Charge- CARTRIDGE.
One time and one motion.
159. Empty the powder into the barrel; disengage the ball from the paper with the right hand and the thumb and first two fingers of the left; insert it into the bore, the pointed end uppermost, and press it down with the right thumb; seize the head of the rammer with the thumb and fore-finger of the right hand, the other fingers closed, the elbows near the body.

Or from Gilhams 1860:
4. Charge - CARTRIDGE.
One time and one motion.
   153. Empty the powder into the barrel; disengage the ball from the paper with the right hand and the thumb and first two fingers of the left; insert it into the bore, the pointed end uppermost, and press it down with the right thumb; seize the head of the rammer with the thumb and fore-finger of the right hand, the other fingers closed, the elbows near the body.

It would seem from reading these that you would drop the paper after placing the ball on the bore.  And as you reach for the rammer.

But this seems to be more fitting for a weapon where the ball is about the same size of the bore (minie-ball), but what about a smoothbore where there is a greater difference in size between the ball and bore?

When firing blanks, ramming the paper down on top of your powder charge helps the powder to burn more efficiently. However, it will cause the paper to be ignited and can cause grass fires if the conditions are right. When firing blanks, the event orgainzers will generally direct you weather or not to ram paper.

Now, with live rounds I've found the paper just won't fit into a rifled barrel. But, have personally sent buck n' ball paper and all down the barrel after the powder.

Your mileage may vary.

Greg,

The paper and ball in a rifled barrel is very difficult to load together. The real soldiers after a while became very good at just disengaging the ball from the paper and it was second nature for them after firing for awhile.

Being less trained in actual live firing it takes us longer to cathc onto the tecnique.

Hmmm, maybe that is why I like my Sharps breachloader better

Greg,

Besides the difficulty of loading the paper with the bullet, there was a more important reason to drop the paper. The grooves on the Minie Bullet were greased. The soft lead bullet takes the rifling better if there is nothing between the barrel and the bullet.

The .69 caliber smooth bores were loaded with the paper intact. Take notice of the .69 caliber cartridges. The paper was actually tied around projectile.

As stated by others, for a rifled musket or rifle, the paper is discarded, and for smoothbore, at least a part of it is placed down the barrel.

Now comes the fun part:  If you were using a British-made cartridge in your Enfield, you tore the cartridge, poured the powder, then flipped the cartridge over, inserting the bullet and the surrounding greased part of the cartridge paper that was over the bullet into the barrel and tore off and discarded the ungreased part of the paper.  The bullets in the British-made cartridges were not greased, but the paper over them was.  Also, the bullets were "upside down" to the way American bullets were placed in the cartridge, the point facing the powder.  Most Enfields were used with American-made cartridges, however.

Bernie, it's interesting you should mention the Enfield and paper, because the troops firing over a certain staff officer's head in the waning moments of the fiasco at Sailor's Creek on April 6, 1865 were most likely members of Mahone's Division, and he mentions paper flying about. Page 157 of the Last Hours of Sheridan's Cavalry begins the tale of Capt. Cyrus Roberts:

Quote :

"Illustrating the spirit prevailing at the close of this battle, and as one of many similar incidents doubtless never to be recorded, is the experience of an officer of General Crook's staff, Captain Cyrus S. Roberts, [ now Brigadier General IT. S. Army retired] who had joined in the grand final charge when his usually quiet general at the last moment enthusiastically ordered every one about him, officer or orderly, to join in the charge wherever he pleased. " Put everything in ; now everybody go in," is an inspiring command seldom heard from the professional soldier, but always effective, never misunderstood. Joining then, the nearest squadron, this subordinate rode among the disordered foe who, throwing down their arms, hastened for safety into the Union lines. K"ever stopping, however, each trooper rode hurriedly on to overtake and capture still more of the rehel fugitives. Our young officer, not a little enthusiastic, pushed on, supposing he was followed by others, when suddenly as his horse was jumping a ditch he encountered the fire of a well formed regiment of the enemy, which had either rallied or arrived from a different position of the field and had taken a favorable position to embarrass pursuit. Fortunately, just then the captain's horse missed his footing and with his rider fell into the ditch. The horse regained himself, but the regiment just then opening a heavy musketry fire, drove him back with all our pursuing soldiers. The young aide, however, was a veteran, and unharmed lay as if dead within a few feet of the enemy's line, while the paper and dust from their cartridges flew over and about him. Soon the fire ceased and the regiment moved away. The captain cautiously looking up perceived that he had ventured too far. Our men had all retired from that locality and a large group of rebels were retreating over the same path he had ridden. Quick as thought the little fellow sprang up and demanded their surrender, saying that they might as well surrender now to him as go any further, our cavalry was only beyond the hills and on the same road over...."

The key phrase being: "The young aide, however,
was a veteran, and unharmed lay as if
dead within a few feet of the enemy's line,
while the paper and dust from their cartridges
flew over and about him."

It is known that a good number of Mahone's division were armed with Enfields, although whether or not that arm was exclusive is not known. Grumpy posted the link to this nice Googlebook in another thread, and it is well worth reading.

Civil War cartridges are an interesting study. For the most part, real cartridges are more complicated than anything made by reenactors. They had an issue we don't have to worry about. The grease used to lubricate the bullet could "kill" the black powder. American made cartridges were made with two or three  pieces of paper. One piece was folded up to make a separate "case" to hold the black power and keep it away from the bullet grease. That was one reason it was so easy to break open the cartridge and remove the bullet. There was two or three layers of paper around the powder, but only one over the bullet. In the 1855 manual, the soldiers were instructed to break the cartridge on the edge of the rifle's barrel.

The English cartridges are interesting. They must have used a very dry lube on their cartridges. First, not to make a mess and second, not to weaken the paper. English bullets were made different than the American version. They were smooth sided and had a wood plug in the base to help expansion.

The Confederates came up with a very interesting cartridge, called the Gardner Pattern Cartridge. It utilized a cast bullet with a wing that was folded down over a tube of paper in the sizing process. It had two major advantages. First, it was much easier to make, and second it was quicker to load. Sad to say, the cartridge had two fatal flaws. First, the bullets were cast, rather than swaged from solid lead, like most bullets of the period. These cast bullets often had defects that would allow the nose of the bullet to blow out leaving most of the round stuck in the barrel. Second, the grease from the exposed bullets got on the cartridge paper. It caused the cartridges to break in in the soldier's cartridge boxes. Life is not good, when you have to take a bullet and a pinch of powder out of your box, and hope for the best. The Richmond Arsenal stopped issuing the Gardner cartridges after 1863.