A GOOD QUALITY CS RICHMOND RIFLE-MUSKET – CAPTURED & COLLECTED

A GOOD QUALITY CS RICHMOND RIFLE-MUSKET – CAPTURED & COLLECTED

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$6,500.00

Quantity Available: 1

Item Code: 1030-109

Shipping: Determined by Method & Location of buyer

To Order:
Call 717-334-0347,
Fax 717-334-5016, or E-mail

This Confederate manufactured .58 caliber rifle-musket was made with M1855 production machinery captured at the Harpers Ferry U. S. Armory in 1861 by Virginia forces. Soon the Richmond Armory served as the Confederacy’s principal arms manufactory; this continued throughout the war.

This particular rifle-musket is a pure Richmond Armory product except for possibly 3 components, and these were assembled with the weapon during the Civil War. The lock markings are sharp and read "1863" at rear of the hammer and "C.S." over "RICHMOND VA." forward of the cock. The lock has a mottled finish both brown and bright as a result of a half-hearted old cleaning. The mechanics are perfect. The bolster and breech on the 40-inch barrel are moderately pitted obscuring the barrel date and the greater portion of the barrel proofs "V P" and the eagle head. The small bolster screw has broken off. The barrel forward is smooth and has a gun metal gray color. The front sight block is intact, but the blade has been filed to a smaller size. The rear sight was removed long ago. This reveals the crudely cut "Richmond notched" into which the rear sight base pin once fit. The front sight, that acts as a bayonet stop, was filed when, after the war, this weapon was bored out to be used as a shotgun.  All 3 bands and their springs are intact. The rear and front bands are Richmond with the off-center "Us"; the middle band is Harpers Ferry but has a crudely affixed, at the time, sling swivel.  The rear sling swivel is also in place. All metal components have gunmetal patinas that match that of the barrel. The iron nose cap is possibly Harpers Ferry, but the iron butt plate is early Richmond production and was never stamped "US". The iron swelled ramrod is the Harpers Ferry 1855 type.

The stock is Richmond with the ubiquitous "mule shoe" cut as part of the lock in letting. The stock is beautifully patinated with no breaks or major abrasions. It was sanded a very long time ago. However, it should be mentioned that in 1863 Richmond was having a devil of a time finding stocks and they were using damaged stocks or substandard stocks and sanding them to work; for more information on this please find Paul Davies' seminal book CS ARMORY RICHMOND (C.S. Armory, Richmond by Paul J. Davies | Open Library). On the underside of the stock ahead of the iron trigger guard is a lightly stamped "F". This is identified as one of the C&R alphabet letters. Steven Knott identified these alphabet capital letters as belonging to CS Ordnance inspectors. In his 2019 book “Captured and Collected Confederate Reissued Firearms” he breaks it all down. It should be said that decades before Mr. Knott did his research old school collectors were well aware that the letters consistently seen on firearms including pistols were of Confederate origin. Mr. Knott who put it all "to pen" estimated that as many as 200,000 firearms gathered by CS Ordnance teams or civilians were placed into the Confederate cleaning and repair (“C&R”) system for reissue to Confederate troops, along with perhaps another 50,000 turned in by Confederate units. Most of these were in the eastern theatre, where Confederate victories left battlefields in southern hands, and the guns went through the process at Danville, Staunton, Lynchburg, or Richmond. Knott’s original catalog of five letter marks designating different inspectors (A,F,Q,T,Z) has expanded to include a “D” and also this “&” stamp. Our Richmond bears the "F", and it likely explains the addition of the swelled postproduction ramrod which required dexterous wood removal ahead of the front band.

This is a nice Richmond rifle-musket that has no worrisome issues and is priced to sell.   [pe][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!

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