A virtual examination of artifacts of the American Civil War
by Harry Ridgeway
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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, short carbine, Confederate Richmond Armory, low hump, 1861, .58cal. . After the capture of Harpers Ferry, the Confederates salvaged all of the manufacturing equipment from the Federal armory, and moved it to Richmond. The dies used for the lockplates were from the Model 1855 musket which employed the Maynard priming system, now obsolete by the start of the Civil War. The Confederates continued to use the same dies leaving the hump but did not mill it for the primer system. This musket features the low hump, for some the top of the original high hump may have simply been milled to allow better clearance for the hammer, others a new die with the reduced hump was apparently produced. This short musket, with two bands was referred to as a carbine, it was designed to be used on horseback, although it was a muzzle loader like all of the other Richmond muskets. Manufactured: Confederate Richmond Armory. Marks: Barrel is marked vp over eagle, there was not a date on the barrel and the buttplate is not marked. Lockplate is marked 1861 behind the hammer and CS / RICHMOND VA in front. The flat bands are each marked U, the off-center U is a distinct Richmond mark. Model features: This short musket, with two bands was referred to as a carbine, it was designed to be used on horseback, although it was a muzzle loader like all of the other Richmond muskets. This carbine, produced in 1861, is very similar to the Federal Model 1861 muskets, it was designed as a single shot .58 cal. rifled muzzleloader, and featured iron buttplate, C shaped hammer, bolster with clean out screw, two leaf sight, iron trigger guard, three flat barrel bands held in place with springs, two strap hooks on middle band and trigger guard, tulip head ramrod with straight shank and threaded end, iron nose cap held in place with a rivet. The inside wood does have the groove cut for the Maynard primer, this indicates that this is early production utilizing captured stocks from Harpers Ferry, later examples utilized the mule foot. It is proper for some of the early produced Richmond carbines to have this feature, as noted in Paul Davies book on page 13. The barrel is milled to a T mortise, this was a Confederate innovation to better secure the rear sight. A rectangle cartouche may be found in the wood opposite the lock, it is usually weak. Research Center: Weapon1601-Musket-Confederate-Richmond-1861-v1 . Reference: Flayderman 10-050. Barrel length 25 inches.   Details click: http://relicman.com/weapons/Weapon1601-Musket-Confederate-Richmond-1861-v1.html |
| W1287 ### Rifled percussion musket, short carbine, Confederate Richmond Armory, low hump, 1861, .58cal. . After the capture of Harpers Ferry, the Confederates salvaged all of the manufacturing equipment from the Federal armory, and moved it to Richmond. The dies used for the lockplates were from the Model 1855 musket which employed the Maynard priming system, now obsolete by the start of the Civil War. The Confederates continued to use the same dies leaving the hump but did not mill it for the primer system. This musket features the low hump, for some the top of the original high hump may have simply been milled to allow better clearance for the hammer, others a new die with the reduced hump was apparently produced. This short musket, with two bands was referred to as a carbine, it was designed to be used on horseback, although it was a muzzle loader like all of the other Richmond muskets. Manufactured: Confederate Richmond Armory. Marks: Barrel is marked vp over eagle, there was not a date on the barrel and the buttplate is not marked. Lockplate is marked 1861 behind the hammer and CS / RICHMOND VA in front. The flat bands are each marked U, the off-center U is a distinct Richmond mark. Model features: This short musket, with two bands was referred to as a carbine, it was designed to be used on horseback, although it was a muzzle loader like all of the other Richmond muskets. This carbine, produced in 1861, is very similar to the Federal Model 1861 muskets, it was designed as a single shot .58 cal. rifled muzzleloader, and featured iron buttplate, C shaped hammer, bolster with clean out screw, two leaf sight, iron trigger guard, three flat barrel bands held in place with springs, two strap hooks on middle band and trigger guard, tulip head ramrod with straight shank and threaded end, iron nose cap held in place with a rivet. The inside wood does have the groove cut for the Maynard primer, this indicates that this is early production utilizing captured stocks from Harpers Ferry, later examples utilized the mule foot. It is proper for some of the early produced Richmond carbines to have this feature, as noted in Paul Davies book on page 13. The barrel is milled to a T mortise, this was a Confederate innovation to better secure the rear sight. A rectangle cartouche may be found in the wood opposite the lock, it is usually weak. Research Center: Weapon1601-Musket-Confederate-Richmond-1861-v1 . Reference: Flayderman 10-050. Barrel length 25 inches.                          |
| 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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Harry Ridgeway, Civil War weapons, Relicman sales catalog. Sale listings click: http://relicman.com/weapons/Relicman-Sales-Weapon0000.html.     Sale listings click: http://relicman.com/weapons/Relicman-Sales-Weapon0000.html. |