This is a good example of a scarce Civil War rifle musket by Eli Whitney. Flayderman estimates production at 3,500, with about a third well documented as going south. This was retained by a soldier and later very well carved with his initials, “DK” in Old English underlined by a long, tapering triangle on the buttstock, and the “K” repeated, engraved in Old English on the brass triggerguard bow with the date 1861 above and 1932 below, perhaps the date of the carving, or the soldier’s passing.

Eli Whitney knew a good deal when he saw one and bought large quantities of Enfield pattern parts directly and indirectly from the 1858 liquidation of the Robbins and Lawrence factory, which had gone belly-up in fulfilling a British arms contract for Enfields. Whitney ended up with at least 5,000 sets of the solid type P53 Enfield barrel bands, at least 5-6,000 stocks by his own estimate, as well as butt plates and other mountings. Using these and parts acquired from other sources he produced these rifle muskets that loosely follow the P53 Enfield, but with American elements, and various Whitney variations. These fall under the broad category of his “good and serviceable arms,” and between his own reputation, gained from his production of M1841 rifles, and reputation of British Enfields he did pretty well selling them to both north and south in the wake of the John Brown raid and rising tensions. Maryland bought 2,000 of them in 1860, some of which were stolen from state militia stores, while Georgia bought 1,700 (of which 1,225 had been delivered by February 1861,) and smaller quantities went to militia companies north and south, including 75 in late 1860 to the “Enterprise Guards” in Mississippi.

This uses an American style 40-inch barrel with front sight and Whitney variant of the M1855 long range rear sight. The lockplate, stamped simply “E. WHITNEY” is flat and set flush with the stock giving an Enfield look to it, but the bolster is rounded and has clean-out screw. The barrel bands are British style, but of the earlier solid pattern and secured by springs. Butt plate, and lock screw washers are British in style, the latter with flanges, and are brass, as is the triggerguard bow, which Moller remarks is like those of the M1841 and M1855 rifle. The nose cap is pewter, a known variation with his brass ones. The ramrod, with knurled head, is a period replacement- Whitney supplied a trumpet or tulip head rod. The gun rates good or better for condition with the lock and barrel showing a caramel brown over muted silver gray and the bands a bit darker. There is shallow pitting top and left of the breech and on the lockplate, but the metal is mostly smooth. The wood has good color, good fit, and decent edges, but shows a number of handling dings and scratches, a shallow drag line of the left butt, and a little chipping with short cracks along the ramrod channel. Bands, springs, swivels, front and rear sights are in place. The rear sight retains the ladder, but sliding crossbar is missing. As is correct, the lockplate bears only Whitney’s name and the gun is devoid of barrel proofs or inspector cartouches.

The bore is dirty and could use a cleaning. The mechanics are good, though a bit soft. This is a scarce rifle musket with a lot of eye appeal, and the carving is exceptionally well done.  [sr] [ph:L]

DISCLAIMER: All firearms are sold as collector's items only - we do not accept responsibility as to the shooting safety or reliability of any antique firearm. All firearms are described as accurately as possible, given the restraints of a catalog listing length. We want satisfied customers & often "under" describe the weapons. Any city or state regulations regarding owning antique firearms are the responsibility of the purchaser. All firearms are "mechanically perfect" unless noted, but again, are NOT warranted as safe to fire.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THIS ITEM, AS WITH ALL OTHER ITEMS AVAILABLE ON OUR WEB SITE,

MAY BE PURCHASED THROUGH OUR LAYAWAY PROGRAM.

CLICK HERE FOR OUR POLICIES AND TERMS.

THANK YOU!