Since the South lacked sufficient manufacturing capability, most of the Springfields in Southern hands were captured on the battlefields during the war.[2]. The gun is 50 long and 36 from the business end to trigger. Another had identified it as Austrian: Muster 1842 k.k. Civil War political cartoon, Civil War Memorabilia: Everything You Need to Know, American history buffs' gateway into antique collecting often comes first through acquiring Civil War memorabilia. The rare Confederate Le Mat revolver is another highly desirable Civil War gun. Only about 2,500 made it to the Confederacy by means of their gun runners. The purchase was agreed to by none other than General John Fremont (who is infamous for another shady firearms deal). Extraordinary Civil War Era Sharps New Model 1863 percussion Saddle Ring carbine. ammunition used by both Union and Confederate armies. These rifles, while more accurate than smoothbore muskets, had been designed for hunting, and fired less deadly smaller caliber ammunition. It had a rifled barrel, and fired the .58 caliber Mini ball. It performed so well under combat conditions that the Confederate armies believed that they had attacked an entire division instead of a single regiment during the Battle of Chickamauga. It had design similarities to the Colt revolver, with a rotating cylinder that held several rounds of ammunition (a unique feature on a rifle). Military Wiki is a FANDOM Lifestyle Community. Designed by the famous Civil War General Ambrose Burnside in 1853 before the war, the Burnside carbine was originally produced, delivered, and trialed to the United States government in 1858. The only breechloading rifle (not built as a carbine like the Burnside) firing a primed-metallic cartridge (a .50 cal. Most rifles of this era were muzzle loaded rifled muskets. In the few weeks between its formation and going into battle, for example, the 24th Michigan had one recorded instance of target practice, during which three men were wounded and one died of a heart attack. Most of the time it was chopped up pieces of steel and newspaper wadding. This was a single shot, muzzle-loading gun that used the percussion cap firing mechanism. The South didnt have the manufacturing ability to produce the guns they needed, so they contracted 5,000 to be produced overseas. With seven rounds of .56-56 Spencer rimfire on tap, the rifle delivered overwhelming firepower for the time. . The lowest selling went for $3,163 and was a civilian model. Round balls did not fit so tightly into the barrel, and therefore did not suffer from the slow loading problem common to rifles. The Model 1841 Mississippi Rifle, the progenitor of the Model 1855 and 1861 Springfield, was still used in the Civil War to a fair degree, especially by Confederate non-commissioned officers (NCOs) and sharpshooters. Once they shot what they had on hand, there was no way to replenish their supplies, given the ammo manufacturers were based in the North. a U.S. Colt Model 1851 Navy percussion revolver. My gut feeling is that when new it was at least a middle grade gun. The relatively poor South only bought 50,000 by August 1862, while the North bought 726,000. Almost all rifles were made with iron barrels, while only some, like the Burnside, used steel, which then was expensive. Sharps was without a doubt the finest produced and best functioning carbine of the war. This was one of the best examples of a Model 1851 revolver to pass through RIAC. Be sure to keep an eye on our catalog so you dont miss out on your next chance to bid on the Civil War gun your collection needs. Pulled wads, shot and powder. England became one of the Rebels' main arms dealers, with a number of small private gunmakers from around London and Birmingham supplying up to 350,000 Pattern 1853s. Firearms. A higher conditioned Colt Model 1851 can sell for quite a bit more such as the one we sold for $20,700 in September of 2017. Most of the rifles during that time were loaded with a small lead musket ball or with a minnie ball (or Mini ball) and black powder. A type of long-range ammunition, this is what people commonly think of as a "cannon ball". The benefit of this Civil War rifle was that it could be fired in rapid succession without pausing to reload after each shot. The Civil War era is an antique arms collector's dream for the same reason it was a nightmare for the Ordnance Department: a dizzying array of weapons and ammunition. However, most American army officers in 1861 had been schooled in obsolete Napoleonic tactics, especially since many of them had served in the Mexican War, which was still fought in the old way with smoothbore muskets and linear formations. However, the military was still using tactics such as firing by ranks, and feared that shorter barrels would result in soldiers in the back ranks accidentally shooting front rank soldiers in the back of the head. Arms and Equipment of the Civil War. Western armies were slower to obtain Springfield rifles, and they were not widely used there until the middle of 1863. Some types of rifles were regionally specific, while others were used across all arenas of the war. As a result, cavalry came to be used mainly for raiding and scouting, and seldom participated in major battles. These rifled muskets have an iconic look that makes them pretty easy to identify based on their silhouette. These are a few of the more unique rifles that have documented use during the 19th century conflict. And despite its overall popularity with the troops, few of the rifle variation made it into their hands. I would guess the gun originated in Belgium. Whitworth Rifle. "J.B.L." is visible along with a date "Apr 29 1865" right below the initials. There were nevertheless drawbacks to these weapons, as early breechloaders leaked gas at the breech and repeaters were technically complex and required metallic cartridges which could be unreliable. 1861. His goal was to build a replacement for the Pattern 1853. For years, one of the standard manuals used in the US Army had been an 1835 translation by General Winfield Scott of a French work. Guns like these did see use and were preferred by some. k.k. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission, which supports our community. The Confederacy had at least seven units that were armed with Burnside rifles that had been captured from the Union armies. When one side gained the upper hand, they would finish off the attack with a bayonet charge. The Springfield was such a widely used rifle that most Civil War re-enactors own one for use in their battles. If a soldier needed a firearm that had versatility and good repeating capability, it doesnt get much handier than this grapeshot revolver combo. [18] To combat the arms shortage, the Union and Confederacy both imported large quantities of rifles from Europe, with each side buying whatever it could get. Box 160 Llano, Texas 78643 If you have a specific identification question, please see our Identification Request Page. 60th North Carolina Infantry Inscribed Rifle. United States:Lyons Press. We did not manufacture guns of this nature in the US. United States:University Press of Kansas. It is close, but not quite right. Email us at Mail@HistoricalArms.net or call 440-744-9088 (11am - 8pm Eastern Time) The Napoleonic cavalry charge was thus made both obsolete and suicidal by rifles. One of the most fascinating markings on the gun is carved initials in the stock of the gun. Shooting 475-grain bullets, thats a lot of lead down range. A common practice was to load them and leave precussion cap off. Nevertheless, the Federal government did eventually purchase thousands of these weapons, and thousands more were purchased by Union soldiers using their own money. Civil War Bullet Types - Pistol and Rifle Such a far-reaching war required a large collection of firearms which, in turn, relied on a vast collection of ammunition types. This is one of the most unique Civil War guns a collector can get their hands on considering its provenance and rarity. In our 2018 December Premier Auction, RIAC sold a U.S. Colt Model 1851 Navy percussion revolver for $4,600. In September of 2018, RIAC sold a confederate copy of a Sharps rifle for a whopping $28,750. Most of these new rifle-muskets still had to be loaded between . In the decades leading up to the Civil War, several advances helped make the rifle a more practical weapon for the average soldier. Civil War Handgun professionals specializing in appraisals of antique revolvers and pistols used by Union and Confederate forces during and before the Civil War. Interestingly enough, Colt Manufacturing sent around 2,200 Model 1860 Colts to the South on contract early in the war. Armies South, Armies North. Model 1855 rifles were fairly common. (2017). By 1864, some Union companies were armed with them, although rarely whole regiments. Some were considered to be of the finest quality, and were sometimes praised as being superior to the Enfield. Used by both the Confederate and Union troops, the Sharps were often used as a sniper rifle. These differences made it easy to operate from horseback with accuracy, and this accuracy is what inspired the English term, "sharpshooter." In order for rifling to impart a spin upon a projectile it has to have a tight fit, and with weapons of the time being muzzleloaders this made it much slower to load and fire a rifle compared to a musket. These used the less reliable Maynard tape primer firing mechanism which when damp could cause misfires, a flaw that had forced its original retirement in 1860 until it was re-introduced to meet the arms shortage. You can find these rifles in antique auctions around the country for a few thousand dollars, such as with this 1861 Sharps rifle that's listed for $3,499. Case shot was an anti-personnel projectile, meaning it was used against soldiers. Despite the limited quantities that were made during the war, the gun went on to be a massive success in the post-war period, becoming the Winchester model 1866 and launching the Winchester name. Though the muzzleloader percussion cap rifle was the most numerous weapon, being standard issue for the Union and Confederate armies, many other firearms, ranging from the single-shot breech-loading Sharps and Burnside rifles to the Spencer and the Henry rifles - two of the world's first repeating rifles - were issued by the hundreds of thousands, mostly by the Union. They acquired more through battlefield pickups and would use them throughout the war (although the 1855 rifle was eventually replaced in the Union ranks by 1861 Springfields). As with the Spencer, it provided overwhelming firepower in a conflict dominated by muzzleloaders. Sir Joseph Whitworth was the man behind the machine, inspired by cannon design in conceiving his polygonal rifled long gun. Fateful Lightning: A New History of the Civil War and Reconstruction. With 16+1 rounds of .44 Henry rimfire ammunition on tap, the rifle would have been money well spent. This rifled musket , with the lock marking "1861 Springfield" and an eagle, was the principal infantry arm of the civil war. During the American Civil War, an assortment of small arms found their way onto the battlefield. The bored out versions were not consistent in caliber, ranging from .57 to .59. In fact, antique gun collectors come in all shapes and sizes. USA.gov, The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration . It is said Gen. Hiram Berdan had to circumvent his superiors and essentially appeal to President Lincoln himself to get the Sharps in play. For other collectable antique military firearms, take a look at our inventory of antique U.S. martial pistols and Civil War revolvers, foreign military surplus antique handguns, and foreign military antique long guns. Behind the Sharps, it was the most used cavalry carbine of the war. Smooth-bore muskets were cast aside for updated rifled muskets (which still had the same components as a traditional musket but featured boring in the barrels that aided in keeping ammunition going in a straighter, more consistent, line upon exit). A family tintype of an ancestor holding the weapon in their uniform can give you some context as to whether the firearm was active during the 1860s, or is just a family heirloom. This rifle was mostly used by Confederate snipers. Allen & Wheelock Drop Breech. Polly Pocket: History & Value of Barbies Biggest 90s Rival. During the Civil War, Robert E. Lee was equipped with an 1851 Navy and the revolver model was the most prominently used by Confederate forces. Surveying a number of battles, they found that Civil War combat still largely took place at ranges similar to or slightly better than smoothbore muskets, suggesting no revolution had taken place in the way war was conducted. Most rifles of this era were muzzle loaded rifled muskets. Any identification marks are most likely on the bottom of the barrels, under the wood. The North was thus able to supply its own small arms needs, while the South had to continue to rely on foreign sources, eventually purchasing 580,000 rifles. After experimenting with the failed Maynard primer system on the Model 1855 musket, the Model 1861 reverted to the more reliable percussion lock. It was a advertisement at a market. 25,000 tube-lock Austrian M1842 muskets were imported via the firm of Kruse, Drexel, and Schmidt, out of a total of 68,505 Austrian muskets imported by the North during the war. For instance, one was produced specially for African-American troops, and another for Zouave units. Posted December 24, 2009. In fact, this rifle was the first breechloader ever made in any national armory that fired a primed metallic cartridge. The American Civil War of 1861-1865 relied on many different kinds of firearms during the years-long progression of the conflict. We have an old rifle that has been passed on through my wife's family from, we believe, the Ciivil War. There are numerous accounts of Union soldiers connecting shots from just shy of 1,000 yards with the revolutionary Sharps. This is a good price for a scarce and desirable gun. Because of this, soldiers were frequently outfitted with firearms that were made decades before the fight even started. The first mass-produced American rifled musket, the 1861 was the most utilized long arm of the Civil War. The rifle that you could load on Sunday and shoot all week long was a boon to the soldier who could get his hands on one. The black powder at the time quickly fouled the barrel, making reloading slower and more difficult. Get the latest news and reviews from Gundigest.com. Inventors and military men devised new types of weapons, such . Desirable Civil War era Parisian First Model LeMat grape shot revolver. The rare Confederate Le Mat revolver is another highly desirable Civil War gun. The .52-calibers self-contained cartridges could be easily loaded on horseback, giving a mounted soldier a weapon that had an effective rate of fire of 8 to 10 shots a minute. Again, thanks for taking time to provide us your feedback, it is much appreciated! The most widely accepted figure estimates 620,000 men lost their lives in the four years of war. The Colt repeating rifle was one of the first repeating rifles, alongside with the Henry. Mini ball rifles - Various rifles were able to shoot mini balls, which created large, gaping wounds in the targets that they hit. Serendipitously, Sir Whitworth found another market for his rifle at the outset of the American Civil War the Confederates. It is suggested by some that the Burnside Carbine was what vaulted Burnside the man to the upper ranks of the Union Army and on to debacles in the Battle of Fredericksburg and the Battle of the Crater. The ignition source was a folded rim on the inside of the gun. A spectacular Civil War U.S. Burnside Fifth Model breech loading saddle ring carbine. Some such weapons included clones of the Sharps carbine, the Richmond/Fayetteville rifles (a Springfield clone) and imitations of Enfield rifles and musketoons. Spencer rifles were the first successful repeater used in the United States. This rifle was invented in 1854 by Austrian lieutenant Joseph Lorenz. It was basically a Joslyn Carbine action fitted to a 1863 Springfield barrel and stock (though heavily modified). Given that these rifles were infrequently used in the war, it's unlikely to find these rifles at auction. [7][8][9][10], Training could help overcome some of these difficulties but target practice was virtually unknown on either side of the Civil War. This had to be one of the finest Spencer rifles still surviving today. I need help in identifying the attached photo, Need help identifying uniforms and building, Looking for help identifying a Civil War era sword -, I need help identifying a possible Civil War Uniform. Learn how your comment data is processed. This rifle had first seen action in the Second Italian War of Independence. There was an article in a very recent edition of Man at Arms Collector magazine on shotgun use in the Civil War. Were really interested to find out what it is and maybe gleen some additional history that might be associated with her family. It was also a time of great technological change. There is a tiny 28 on the brass handle. The majority of Le Mats that actually saw use in battle were produced in France and shipped via the United Kingdom to the Confederacy. When in flight however the cleaning components gave the impression of being exploding bullets. I have a sword it has a straight blade a bent brass hilt, total length 38 1 Smoothbore vs Rifled Musket, a Tactical Reality Check. So, if you've caught the eye of an old looking rifle in your grandfather's shed in the backyard, take a minute to look it over and see what hidden treasures your family might've been hiding. The Perpetually Frozen North. Although it had a .577 caliber bore it could use the same .58 caliber Mini ball as the Springfield. The American Civil War still remains the deadliest conflict in our nations history. Appraiser, Seller and Dealer of Civil War Guns to include Revolvers, Pistols, Rifles, Muskets, Carbines and Cannons, Union and Confederate. More interestingly, there is evidence that at least 7 Confederate brigades possessed Burnside carbines and used them in battle. The rifle potentially had another downside however. Besides the Henry, no other long gun could provide a shooter with 7 rounds before having to reload. Rifles made this type of fighting obsolete because of their much greater range. I need help identifying a civil war uniform, Identifying Real/Replica Civil War Sword-Palmetto Armory, Need Help Identifying a Civil War Dress Sword. Disease in an era before antibiotics was the main culprit to these horrendous figures, more than 2 percent of the countrys population then. Some Confederates got a hold of Henry rifles too, but faced the same problem they did when they captured a Sharps or a Spencer ammunition. The carbine was the first ever produced to use metallic cartridges (not to be confused with the first self-contained metallic cartridge) and was very popular with its shooters. Hi. Since the 17th century, infantry normally fought in a tight shoulder-to-shoulder line and fired volleys at each other. p. 1-3, Axelrod,A. Both sides fielded what ever guns could be . Burnsides company went under and he sold his patent to Charles Jackson. The American Revolution was foughtand wonwith guns, and the weapons have become ingrained in U.S. culture, but the invention of firearms started long before colonists ever settled . Captain James H. Burton improved the American Mini ball fired by the Springfield by hollowing the base of the soft-lead bullet. Turkish evacuation plane shot at as latest cease-fire struggles in Sudan. [4] More recently, historians including Paddy Griffith, Mark Grimsley and Brent Nosworthy have challenged this interpretation. 1 rifle sold in 2020 for $51,750 at Rock Island Auction Company. 7. It looks like the wood has been sanded and refinished. Listing of all rifles, carbines, and related long guns of the American Civil War. Unfortunately for the lucky Confederate troops who happened to capture these rifles from Union soldiers, there wasn't an easy way to access the special ammunition that the guns required. The Lorenz was a bit like playing craps, if craps entailed being killed if the dice were faulty.
