There is no doubt that pinfires saw quite a bit of usage in the South. However, there is little evidence of a systematic or widespread purchase or issuance of pinfires to Confederate units - At least, not in the same sort of way that was seen in the north.

There is little documentary evidence regarding direct Confederate purchases of Lefaucheaux's. In the period of 1861 and 1862 - Caleb Huse was in England and English arms purchases predominated. Now, the London Armory Company did sell some pinfires and some could have come from that venue - but not in large quantities.

There is also a serious shortage in surviving Confederate pinfire revolvers with solid provenance (but a serious oversupply of fake marked revolvers) There is nothing like seeing a 9MM "Confederate" revolver with "CSA" stamped as big as life on it - and then realize that the Liege proofmark on the gun is post 1877. If their useage was common or widespread - then you have to assume that there would be more "12 MM Navy pattern" or other varients out there that could be traced to a Reb unit or a soldier.

As to ammo supply - I have never encountered any information that Selma manufactured Pinfire cartridges. To have this documentation would no doubt be a very sugnificant addition to the historical record. There is a surviving letter from 1864 from Lt. Col. White - commanding Selma Arsenal, that they had on hand 52,800 rounds and one from Louisiana in 1863 that an arsenal there had 45,000 rounds at that time. But, these are listings of a variety of items on hand - but not always items made at that particular arsenal - and are really fairly small compared to Union stocks.

The only maker in North America of note during the war to my mind was C.D. Leet and Company of Springfield Mass - who provided more than 188,000 rounds to the Federal Government. However, even this 188,000 US made total, pales to the total Federal purchases of 2.235.000 rounds of ammo during the war. There were huge purchases from Europe through the first half of 1862. There were a few other US makers of small quantities and improved patents, but not in quantities that were of military importance.

Dug examples tend to bear this out - the "US Case length" of .770 inches is a pretty rare bird in Union camps compared to the longer and shorter European versions. (I've only dug one in the years I hunted - but lots of imports) I have never found a 12MM pinfire round in a Confederate camp - but I have known a few people that did dig a few 9's.

So, while I do not doubt that there were a lot of pinfires out there in Confederate use - either as privately purchased guns or as captured pieces - I still doubt that their usage was very pervasive, or common, when compared to their cap and ball counterparts.

There is a great new book on the subject - "Systeme Lefaucheaux" By Chris Curtis that details pinfires in general and has a chapter on Civil War usage. Chris is a great guy and we have discussed this very subject many times over the years. They are fascinating guns and are still frequently overlooked in their importance.

Hope that this is of interest - Gene