1863 DATED NEW JERSEY CONTRACT TRENTON MODEL 1861

1863 DATED NEW JERSEY CONTRACT TRENTON MODEL 1861

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$3,250.00

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Item Code: 362-1318

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It’s hard to overstate the condition of this Model 1861 Rifle Musket. It is all original, complete with all bands, springs, sights, swivels and rod in place. The metal is smooth, in the bright, showing just some scattered, small, thin, light gray age spots, and a bit of yellow varnish on the stock tip, with the rear sight and the nipple showing original blue. The wood has a tight fit, good edges, surface and color. We see just a couple of very minor scratches and a very slight indentation along the right edge of the barrel channel midway between the upper two bands. The markings are crisp in both the metal and the wood. The bore and mechanics are good. Please see our photos.

This is about as “mint, unissued,” as you are likely to find and is scarce. A.M. Burt and J.T. Hodge ran the Trenton Locomotive and Machine Company in Trenton, NJ, and were prolific suppliers to the U.S. government of M1861 rifle muskets on various contracts, sometimes jointly and sometimes individually. This, however, is from one of the company’s two 1863 New Jersey state contracts, calling themselves the Trenton Arms Company, for 1,000 rifle muskets each, dated Sept. 9, 1863, and Oct. 21, 1863. They went on to supply another 3,300 as the New Jersey Arms & Ordnance Company on contracts dated July and September 1864. Those muskets, of course, would be dated 1864. See Flayderman, Hartzler et al., and Moller for details.

The markings are crisp: 1863 on the lock plate to rear of the hammer with eagle and U.S. / TRENTON forward. The barrel shows sharp V/P/[eagle head] proofs at the left breech and an 1863 barrel date matching the lock date on the breech near the hammer. The left barrel flat shows a crisp “N.J.” state ownership stamp. This does not have the small oval with “NJ” stamp in the sideflat seen also on some of these, but Moller indicates that stamp was applied, “sometime after the war.” The buttplate tang has a sharp U.S. Markings in the wood are equally crisp: a small “4/A” below the triggerguard tang, perhaps a rack number, and a very sharp script inspector’s cartouche on the side flat that reads “H.S.H.” in script in a rectangular cartouche with rounded ends. This is not one of the marks listed for Trentons by Hartzler et al., but that list is only marks commonly found, not exhaustive, and may be limited to their US contracts. The marking is pretty clearly that of Henry S. Hill, whose mark is found on Springfield M1855, ’61, and ’63 rifle muskets, among others. See Daum and Pate for this marking, though they do not include Trenton rifle muskets in their summary of his work, but his inspection would have been part of the state contract agreement, not part of his US work as an inspector inside the Springfield Armory, starting about 1859. We note also that his mark appears in the subinspection position and we see no final inspection stamp at rear of the side flat, but again, this was a state contract arm and the “NJ” stamp on the left barrel flat likely suffices as a final acceptance stamp as well as ownership marking.

This is an interesting M1861 Rifle Musket with a tight New Jersey connection, part of complicated manufacturing operation that offers lots of variations in itself, is scarce, and in outstanding condition.  [sr][ph:L]

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