Guns International #: 102909397
Seller's Inventory #: 244081

Category - Civil War Rifles - Antique Rifles - Percussion

Category
Civil War Rifles
Antique Rifles - Percussion

Civil War PARKERS’, SNOW & COMPANY U.S. M1861 .58 Percussion Rifle-Musket CIVIL WAR Percussion “EVERYMANS” Rifle-Musket

Description:
Civil War PARKERS’, SNOW & COMPANY U.S. M1861 .58 Percussion Rifle-Musket  

CIVIL WAR Percussion “EVERYMANS” Rifle-Musket

Here we present an antique U.S. Contract Parkers’, Snow & Company Percussion Rifle-Musket, made in 1864 in Meriden, Connecticut. While it took the Union the first couple of years of the Civil War to ramp up its production capacity, it was contractors like Parkers’, Snow & Company and many others who gave the sole surviving National Armory at Springfield the necessary boost in production to fully equip its armies and end the dependency on imports from Europe. For example, the Union had imported nearly half a million Enfield rifles from Great Britain since 1861 but by the early fall of 1863, with domestic production in full swing, it had no need to purchase the Enfield rifles.

The Model 1861 was the primary musket at the start of the American Civil War. The musket was designed to fire the .58 caliber Minié ball. The M1861 is representative of the “everyman’s” rifle during the war. About 1.5 million rifle-muskets were made in the U.S., over 800,000 of which were made by the Springfield Armory. This was the last hurrah of the rifle-musket as arms development and tactics rapidly advanced during the short period of the American Civil War. Nevertheless, the 1861 represented new technology as it was made for use with the Minié ball, a hollow based, conical projectile that was small enough to quickly push down the muzzle of a rifled barrel and expanded to create a good gas seal unlike a solid, round ball. Almost immediately after the war, the U.S. military switched from the old muzzle loading type weapons to the newer breech loading rifles, bringing an end to the musket as a standard frontline firearm in American history.

Parkers’ Snow & Company’s story during the Civil War aligns almost perfectly into the above paragraph. Prior to the war, Charles Parker and Snow had merged their operations to become the Meriden Machine Company. The company had both a machine shop and a foundry where they produced train wheels, steam engines, printing presses, and piano stools. During the early part of the Civil War, Parkers’ Snow & Company had functioned in the role of supplier for various components, such as trigger guards and locks, for the Model 1861 which it sold to other contractors. As the war progressed, their foothold on the Model 1861 expanded and so did their confidence. On Sept 28, 1863, Parkers’, Snow & Company took things a step further and acquired its own government contract for 15,000 muskets. Having an excellent machine shop, skilled workmen, and prior experience manufacturing components for the Model 1861, there was practically no doubt these factors helped the company fulfill 100% of its contract with all 15,000 units delivered to the U.S. government by November 1864. See “The Rifled Musket” by Claud E. Fuller, pages 194-95. Following the war, the company became better known for its line of double barrel shotguns which we know today as Parker Brothers.

The overall condition is good. Dark patina. The action is strong. The bore is dim with serviceable rifling. Replacement ramrod. The stock shows much use. There is a chip under the lock and a stable split along the grain both front and rear of the lock as well as the rear lock screw head on the left stock flat.

Own the original! This is a legitimate antique and not a reproduction.

Barrel is 40 inches.

Caliber: .58 Percussion

Overall condition as seen in photos.

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ancestryguns

$2000

#244081
 

Price: $2,000.00                     Buy Now

Antique: Yes