Jim,

There are a lot of "it depends" here.

There was nothing wrong with the basic design of the Lorenz, but many of the Union-purchased weapons were in very poor condition. Several European powers got rid of all their junk arms that way, and most of them seem to have gone to the Feds.

As for the Enfield, no true Enfield was used in the war. Export of British service arms (made at the Enfield factory) was prohibited by law, so what came across the pond were copies made by a dozen or more private companies. Some, like those made by the London Armory Company, were superior weapons in every way, but some of the smaller companies produced what might charitably be called junk, and again most of these ended up in Union hands. There are numerous complaints from Federal soldiers about the poor quality of the Enfields, but few from the Confederates.

This may explain why your ancestors "upgraded" from Lorenzes to Enfields to Springfields.