Ridgeway Civil War Research Center, A virtual examination of artifacts of the American Civil War
	Civil War Weapons, all pre 1898
	by Harry Ridgeway

Rifled percussion musket, Model 1841, Whitney, 1854, Colt factory alteration to .58cal. . The Model 1841 was the first rifled musket, it is a relatively heavy and short piece. It is often referred to as the Mississippi rifle, because of its use by Mississippi troops under command of Jefferson Davis during the Mexican War. Musket was designed as a single shot muzzleloader, manufactured from 1846 through 1855, originally designed to use the new elongated minie ball, .54cal. During the 1850's the design was modified to add a removable bayonet lug for a saber bayonet and the brass tip on the ramrod was replaced with steel. In the 1860's Colt was given a contract to re-bore the barrel to .58 cal., and the fixed sight was replaced with a long range leaf sight. Manufactured by Whitney Arms, New Haven, Connecticut. Marks: Lock is marked N HAVEN / 1854 behind the hammer, 'E. WHITNEY / US in front, never was an eagle on the lock. Top of barrel is marked US / (eagle) / VP, tang is marked [date] and side of barrel is marked 'STEEL and JH. Brass buttplate is marked US. Cartouches on wood on left side indicate original government inspection, and 1860's inspection. Additional inspector mark on the butt, and on the trigger guard. Barrel nose and removable lug are numbered. Model features: Musket was originally designed as .54 cal. with a thick heavy barrel without a bayonet. During the 1850's the design was modified to add a removable bayonet lug for a saber bayonet and the brass tip on the ramrod was replaced with steel. In the 1860's Colt was given a contract to re-bore the barrel to .58 cal., and the fixed sight was replaced with a long range leaf sight. All of these improvements were factory modifications approved by the government. Musket as modified is .58 cal single shot muzzleloader, 6 groove rifling, brass buttplate, brass patchbox, brass trigger guard, single brass band, brass nose cap serves as second band, strap hooks on trigger guard and nose cap, long range leaf sight, ramrod is trumpet head with threaded end and steel tip. The removable lug for the saber bayonet, barrel nose and bayonet were all serial number coordinated. Research Center: Weapon1303-Musket-Model-1841-Whitney-1854-v2 . Reference: Flayderman 5J-034, (Whitney, 1854), 9A-283 (Colt alteration). Barrel length, 33in. Details click: http://relicman.com/weapons/Weapon1303-Musket-Model-1841-Whitney-1854-v2.html

W1008 ### Rifled percussion musket, Model 1841, Whitney, 1854, Colt factory alteration to .58cal. . The Model 1841 was the first rifled musket, it is a relatively heavy and short piece. It is often referred to as the Mississippi rifle, because of its use by Mississippi troops under command of Jefferson Davis during the Mexican War. Musket was designed as a single shot muzzleloader, manufactured from 1846 through 1855, originally designed to use the new elongated minie ball, .54cal. During the 1850's the design was modified to add a removable bayonet lug for a saber bayonet and the brass tip on the ramrod was replaced with steel. In the 1860's Colt was given a contract to re-bore the barrel to .58 cal., and the fixed sight was replaced with a long range leaf sight. Manufactured by Whitney Arms, New Haven, Connecticut. Marks: Lock is marked N HAVEN / 1854 behind the hammer, 'E. WHITNEY / US in front, never was an eagle on the lock. Top of barrel is marked US / (eagle) / VP, tang is marked [date] and side of barrel is marked 'STEEL and JH. Brass buttplate is marked US. Cartouches on wood on left side indicate original government inspection, and 1860's inspection. Additional inspector mark on the butt, and on the trigger guard. Barrel nose and removable lug are numbered. Model features: Musket was originally designed as .54 cal. with a thick heavy barrel without a bayonet. During the 1850's the design was modified to add a removable bayonet lug for a saber bayonet and the brass tip on the ramrod was replaced with steel. In the 1860's Colt was given a contract to re-bore the barrel to .58 cal., and the fixed sight was replaced with a long range leaf sight. All of these improvements were factory modifications approved by the government. Musket as modified is .58 cal single shot muzzleloader, 6 groove rifling, brass buttplate, brass patchbox, brass trigger guard, single brass band, brass nose cap serves as second band, strap hooks on trigger guard and nose cap, long range leaf sight, ramrod is trumpet head with threaded end and steel tip. The removable lug for the saber bayonet, barrel nose and bayonet were all serial number coordinated. Research Center: Weapon1303-Musket-Model-1841-Whitney-1854-v2 . Reference: Flayderman 5J-034, (Whitney, 1854), 9A-283 (Colt alteration). Barrel length, 33in.

This is the "Ridgeway Civil War Research Center", a research tool for educational purposes only, and is provided at no cost to the reader. Some of the relics listed are retained in the author's collection, most reside in other collections and are not owned by the author. None of the items listed in this section are for sale, please refer to relicman.com sales listings for items offered for sale. This is a work in progress, I list items as I get to them, there are many patterns that are not listed yet, this list will be regularly updated as I get pictures and descriptions for more items. I will also correct mistakes, so if you see any please tell me. All items listed are believed to be authentic to the Civil War or as otherwise described. Any excavated relics have been recovered from private property with owners permission.This information is available for research purposes, pictures may be used by permission only.

All weapons listed on this webpage are strictly manufactured before 1898, and are considered unsafe for actual use. These are antique collectible weapons of the Civil War (most are pre 1865, unless I state otherwise) and actual firing of these weapons is not recommended for any purpose whatsoever! Because these are all "pre 1898" weapons, no licenses are required for ownership, but common sense and good judgment should be applied.

Most information on this page is from:
Flayderman's Guide to Antique American Firearms......
John Thillman series, "Civil War Cavalry & Artillery Sabers...", or "Civil War Army Swords....".

Ridgeway Civil War Research Center, A virtual examination of artifacts of the American Civil War Weapons Research center, weapons, click: http://relicman.com/weapons/Weapon0000-Index.html. Research center, weapons, click: http://relicman.com/weapons/Weapon0000-Index.html.

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