Goldilocks Guns - Granddaddy Bear

[aray]

I would have put this in the previous thread but KahrTalk only allows for 5 photos per message. Anyway to continue, this isn't a 9mm like the rest of my firearms, but I couldn't leave it off of my Goldilocks Guns collection photo lineup.

This is my 1862 Springfield Armory 58 caliber rifle, recovered off of the field of battle at Gettysburg. (I have the paper providence.)

1487

Closeup of the trigger mechanism.

1488

And the business end of the bayonet. Being poked with this would make for a real bad day. Of course I imagine being shot with a soft lead 58 caliber projectile isn't much fun either.

1489

[Bawanna]

Good grief! How cool is that? I can't imagine how cool it is to own something like that. Can anyone even put a value on something like that?
Man I want to come to your place and hold that thing. I'll wear white gloves and a drool cup. Dang, I'm all shaky just thinking about it. I can just feel the history pouring out over cyber space.
Thanks for sharing that, take good good care of that. Just out of curiosity, what kind of provinence do you have for that. A relation, a letter or picture etc. Gosh darn that's cool.....
Guess the cats out of the sack now, every one here will know I get off on old stuff. Older the better.

[aray]

A bit more of the history:

After the tragedy in Gettysburg, it took a long time for the residents left behind to bury the dead bodies, dead horses, etc. Then they had to go back and pick up tons of junk left behind on the battlefields encompassing something like 25 square miles. While of course the armies would want to salvage as much weaponry as possible, of more importance to Lee was his retreat, and of more importance to Meade was following Lee. So tons of stuff was left behind in the fields of Gettysburg for the farmers who lived there to clean out before they could get back on with their lives.

This gun, like no doubt hundreds of others like it, was picked up by one of those families. It stayed in the family for years, until it was sold some time back. That's when the paper trail began, with one well-known Civil War buff and gun collector purchasing it from the family and documenting its origins. From there it has been sold a few times, with each successive owner documenting his possession. I bought it from a friend's private collection (he was also a museum curator) several years ago. I need to, in turn, put my portion of custodianship down in writing as well. I used that term "custodianship" intentionally, as I view this as a piece of American History for which I have the honor to temporarily care and maintain.

The bayonet did not come original to the weapon. However these things are readily available, and significantly less expensive than the rifle itself, so of course I had to buy one to complement the rifle. And yes, it is really cool to put that baby on and look at it. Very impressive.

And very deadly. The bayonet is sorta triangular-shaped when viewed from above. I learned that his shape was chosen so that when the bayonet was removed, that the flesh was less likely to seal back properly. Three pieces of meat are more likely to remain open, and the poor victim to then bleed to death, vs. a straight flat knife edge. I think for modern bayonets a similar feature is called a "blood groove".

There is one other cool thing about this particular gun. It was made in the Springfield Armory for the Union forces. However it is also "personalized", i.e. someone carved their initials in the stock. I was told that Union forces were not allowed to personalize their weapons, which meant that this gun was most likely lost by a Union soldier, and then picked up by a Confederate soldier. That soldier then personalized the gun with his initials, and then in turn lost it at Gettysburg.

The really cool thing would be to see if you could identify who that last soldier was. I'd love to have the time to go to the National Archives and research the gun. You'd first have to see all of the Confederate units engaged in battle at Gettysburg. As I recall that is something like 75,000. Then you'd have to match the names of the roll calls against folks who had the right initials. I have no idea how many that would be but I'm guessing it would be cut down to a few hundred. Your final cut down would be to see of those names, who was killed or wounded at Gettysburg. What are we left with? Dozens? Scores? At that point you have to go to the Springfield Armory and Union records to see which Union forces were provided with 1862 rifles of that model. I'm guessing a few thousand. Now the fun part: you have to see which Union units got those rifles, and which Union units were engaged in battle at or before Gettysburg with the same Confederate units containing soldiers with the initials in your work above. When you do that match, how many people are left? Dozens? One? Dunno. But how cool would that be if you could resolve it down to just one Confederate soldier?

Maybe an exercise for my retirement years, eh?

Given I had a relative who fought and was wounded at Gettysburg, I couldn't let a chance to own this historical piece pass me by. There was no choice, was there? (And no, he did not have the right initials! :-)

[PaiN]

amazing

[jmstallard]

I think for modern bayonets a similar feature is called a "blood groove".

Actually no, this is just a myth. The real term for that groove is "fuller" and it was used to reduce weight, balance the weapon, and/or increase strength.

[jlottmc]

Another note, was that after WWI triangular shaped blades were outlawed by you guessed it the Geneva Convention, precisely for the difficulty in stitching up folks who had been stuck with that little piggy. And what a wonderful piece of history there. I too am a bit of a student of history, and love to see and hear things like that. (My rifles in fact are MILSURP bolt actions dating from 1943-1962), I enjoy all military history and recently my uncle has come into and across some very nice examples of as well. Keep up the good work, and shoot it and clean thoroughly as possible. Keep the loads safe, and don't use pyrodex, the history will positively come to life in your hands when you do, and if you take care you will not be damaging history. (The remaining 45 cal Luger is still taken out about once a year still.)

[aray]

Actually no, this is just a myth. The real term for that groove is "fuller" and it was used to reduce weight, balance the weapon, and/or increase strength.

Interesting, thanks. See, there's always an expert on anything.

So follow-up question: do your comment apply only to the modern day bayonet designs, or were they also true about the different designs of the Civil War era bayonets as well? If I was misinformed about the one, I'm now curious about what I was told about the other.

Thanks.

[aray]

Another note, was that after WWI triangular shaped blades were outlawed by you guessed it the Geneva Convention, precisely for the difficulty in stitching up folks who had been stuck with that little piggy. And what a wonderful piece of history there. I too am a bit of a student of history, and love to see and hear things like that. (My rifles in fact are MILSURP bolt actions dating from 1943-1962), I enjoy all military history and recently my uncle has come into and across some very nice examples of as well. Keep up the good work, and shoot it and clean thoroughly as possible. Keep the loads safe, and don't use pyrodex, the history will positively come to life in your hands when you do, and if you take care you will not be damaging history. (The remaining 45 cal Luger is still taken out about once a year still.)

This sounds like it answers my question just above, re: modern vs. older bayonet designs and the purposes of the various shapes. I'm having lunch right now while reading/typing so our replies sorta crossed in the mail...

I've never fired the rifle. I'd love to do so, but somehow it just seems "improper" to me to fire the weapon again. As far as I know, the last time it was fired was in the heat of battle on the fields of Gettysburg July 1-3, 1863.

[jlottmc]

That is actually a knife term and goes back farther than Civil War, and back to the first days of steel knife production. It has been theorized that the fuller is there to aid in letting one bleed, but as was said earlier it is to balance and reduce weight, with the sort of unintended result of adding a little strength kind of like fluting a barrel but for blades. Incidentally, I have a modern made spring steel Katana with a 30" blade that comes with one, and 2 field knives that have one as well.

[jlottmc]

This sounds like it answers my question just above, re: modern vs. older bayonet designs and the purposes of the various shapes. I'm having lunch right now while reading/typing so our replies sorta crossed in the mail...

I've never fired the rifle. I'd love to do so, but somehow it just seems "improper" to me to fire the weapon again. As far as I know, the last time it was fired was in the heat of battle on the fields of Gettysburg July 1-3, 1863.


That and I type slowly. As far as shooting it, as I said use real black powder, keep the loads safe, and CLEAN it, you should be ok there. I can understand not wanting to as well, but in my eyes guns have one wish..."Shoot Me". I would also check to see if it is still loaded as well, if for no other reason than safety. Many front stuffers go to a pawn shop/gun shop and are loaded.

[Bawanna]

This sounds like it answers my question just above, re: modern vs. older bayonet designs and the purposes of the various shapes. I'm having lunch right now while reading/typing so our replies sorta crossed in the mail...

I've never fired the rifle. I'd love to do so, but somehow it just seems "improper" to me to fire the weapon again. As far as I know, the last time it was fired was in the heat of battle on the fields of Gettysburg July 1-3, 1863.

I would not shoot that rifle for love nor money period. There are enough replicas to play with that will shoot much safer and not risk kicking history right in the teeth. I would check to see it's not loaded but I'm certain it already has been and even if it is loaded I wouldn't mess with it. I'd keep it oiled and totally unchanged. You could be right, the last time fired might have been on the battle field at Gettysburg. Your in possession of a true and honest gem. It deserves nothing but love and respect. Treat it accordingly. It may be begging to tell a story (dang I wish guns could talk) but it definitely isn't begging to be shot, you just gotta trust me on this one.

[jlottmc]

See I can go both ways on that, in the end though no harm would come from shooting it. Like I said the remaining 45 Luger still gets fired once or twice a year... Black powder is overbuilt as well. While I agree if it were lots of shooting, use a replica, once on awhile won't hurt anything, just don't get crazy with it.

[aray]

Hmm, loaded? I never even considered that. I just assumed that after almost 147 years it wouldn't be loaded. I've had the barrel pointed up, down, and all around with no indication that anything would fall out or is sliding around. I've dry fired it several times when showing it to people (but obviously without a percussion cap) with no problems. Back to firearms first principles I guess: "Always assume a gun is loaded". At least I never pointed it at anybody...

I'll have to go check it out now. Gonna be hard. it's a loooong barrel and with no breech opening to shine a light through, so it will be real tough to see all the way down to the bottom with certainty. Anyone got a spare colonoscopy tube they're willing to lend me to check this out? :)

No worries about me firing it. Although as I said it would be fun emotionally, that is dwarfed by my sense of history. I think the last person to fire this weapon should remain the Confederate soldier who was wounded or killed at Gettysburg 147 years ago. As I said, I'm just the current custodian of my small portion of American History.

[Bawanna]

Hmm, loaded? I never even considered that. I just assumed that after almost 147 years it wouldn't be loaded. I've had the barrel pointed up, down, and all around with no indication that anything would fall out or is sliding around. I've dry fired it several times when showing it to people (but obviously without a percussion cap) with no problems. Back to firearms first principles I guess: "Always assume a gun is loaded". At least I never pointed it at anybody...

I'll have to go check it out now. Gonna be hard. it's a loooong barrel and with no breech opening to shine a light through, so it will be real tough to see all the way down to the bottom with certainty. Anyone got a spare colonoscopy tube they're willing to lend me to check this out? :)

No worries about me firing it. Although as I said it would be fun emotionally, that is dwarfed by my sense of history. I think the last person to fire this weapon should remain the Confederate soldier who was wounded or killed at Gettysburg 147 years ago. As I said, I'm just the current custodian of my small portion of American History.

I'd just use a stick or a long dowel. Stuff it down the barrel and make a mark at the end, then hold the mark in the same place on the outside and you'll see about where it ends at the breech. Should be able to tell if it's bottoming or there a little mound of powder and slug there. I suspect if there is a load there it's long since gone bad and not worth messing with. Incidently dry firing that without a cap is not a good thing. With out a cap theres no cushion for the hammer and the nipple. Things are no doubt quite brittle by now. Even a spent cap provides a little protection but I'd discontinue the dry firing if it were me.

[jlottmc]

I'd just use a stick or a long dowel. Stuff it down the barrel and make a mark at the end, then hold the mark in the same place on the outside and you'll see about where it ends at the breech. Should be able to tell if it's bottoming or there a little mound of powder and slug there. I suspect if there is a load there it's long since gone bad and not worth messing with. Incidently dry firing that without a cap is not a good thing. With out a cap theres no cushion for the hammer and the nipple. Things are no doubt quite brittle by now. Even a spent cap provides a little protection but I'd discontinue the dry firing if it were me.


What he said. NEVER dry fire black powder weapons. Though the powder charge may be old and such, I would still pull it. The ramrod will tell you what you need to know. I can also respect your not wanting to fire it too, though I sound like I want you too (and to some extent do). Those old guns have a few handling bits that have been lost to the modern stuff, and all of them have their own and distinct personalities. I had an 1852 reproduction revolver (good story on that on one) that came to me looking like it had been dug up and such, it was loaded with three chambers. I would still pull that ball if there is one, just for the fact that you never really know with black powder.

[jmstallard]

Killing someone through a drop in blood pressure is too slow, even if you could create a practical "blood groove." Besides, even if the blood groove worked, you'd have to leave the weapon in the body for it to function, and in combat you need to quickly stab, recover, and move on.

[jmstallard]

I've had the barrel pointed up, down, and all around with no indication that anything would fall out or is sliding around.

If it were a musket, that test might have worked, but rifled barrels had been in use for 60 years before our civil war.

[jlottmc]

And farther than that, as the were used in the Revolutionary war. Both sides fielded rifles, the British with the Jagger rifle (short German hunting rifle), and the Americans (who also proved the validity of precision fire) with their long rifles. I do think however that the Revolutionary War was the first use of rifles in combat, as the Germans and subsequently Americans had been hunting with rifles for a few years prior to that. As for the blood letting device, a very large needle (think size of the bayonet) and left in the target would work well for that. Just like with the shooting and concept of bayonet, placement is crucial. And technically, a center mass shot does kill some one through a drop in blood pressure. But, I say shoot them till THEY think they're dead.

[jmstallard]

Oh wow, that far back?! I didn't think they saw military action until ~1806. Huh...you learn something new every day.

[aray]

I'd just use a stick or a long dowel. Stuff it down the barrel and make a mark at the end, then hold the mark in the same place on the outside and you'll see about where it ends at the breech. Should be able to tell if it's bottoming or there a little mound of powder and slug there. I suspect if there is a load there it's long since gone bad and not worth messing with. Incidently dry firing that without a cap is not a good thing. With out a cap theres no cushion for the hammer and the nipple. Things are no doubt quite brittle by now. Even a spent cap provides a little protection but I'd discontinue the dry firing if it were me.

Yikes! Man I'd be heartbroken if I damaged the rifle. And not primarily for me, but for the loss of history this represents. Rest assured, as long as I live, this thing will never be dry fired again! Thanks much for the warning.

And I do have the original ramrod with the rifle, so a dowel is not necessary. However when I measure the depth, I'm not sure I can tell if a bullet & power are in there are not, since I don't know exactly where the end of the internal barrel ends by looking at the outside. Thoughts on that?

No takers on that request for a colonoscopy tube? :)

[Bawanna]

Yikes! Man I'd be heartbroken if I damaged the rifle. And not primarily for me, but for the loss of history this represents. Rest assured, as long as I live, this thing will never be dry fired again! Thanks much for the warning.

And I do have the original ramrod with the rifle, so a dowel is not necessary. However when I measure the depth, I'm not sure I can tell if a bullet & power are in there are not, since I don't know exactly where the end of the internal barrel ends by looking at the outside. Thoughts on that?

No takers on that request for a colonoscopy tube? :)

The nipple is going in towards the back of the powder charge. In you picture you can see the screw that holds the nipple and not alot of barrel breach behind that. If the ramrod goes to or close to that nipple screw your probably empty. If the ramrod saw much use it will probably have tell tale wear marks that might show up too. If those marks go down into the barrel another good indication your empty. Sometimes you can even feel it, the difference between tapping steel with the rod or tapping lead. They do make a bullet puller, basically just a screw mounted on the end of the rod, if you stuffed it down there and couldn't hook anything another sign of empty. Don't lose any sleep over this, it's been fine for over a 100 years, we're probably ok. Thanks for no more dry firing. I want to hold that thing sooo bad.

[Bawanna]

Another method that I just remembered is to take a compressor with a blow nozzle on it and just blow a little air into that nipple. Put a kleenex or feather or something easily deflected near the muzzle. If your getting air out the barrel your empty. If your not, it still doens't confirm it's loaded, could be rust or crud down there blocking the nipple passage which would also be safe since theres no chance of a spark getting to the powder if there is any.
I've emptied muzzle loaders where guys forgot the powder this way. If you get a good seal on that nipple, I usually removed it and put a rubber oring over the threads to accept the blow gun. Warning, when you hit the air that bullets could come out. I buried one in a stud in my shop years ago. Don't try catching it in your hand. It will leave a mark!
I wouldn't even take the chance of removing your nipple on this gem. Leave it intact, snap if off you'll be crying for weeks and I'll be crying for weeks and it'll just be ugly all around.

[wyntrout]

I've seen a ramrod thingie with a "corkscrew" on the end to remove charges.

Civil War trophies and the like can be quite dangerous. I was visiting a relative of my first wife up in the Mississippi Delta one time and they had a Civil War cannon ball recovered from a field sitting on the hearth within two feet of the fireplace. It wasn't a simple iron ball. I could see lead? balls through a crack in the exterior. I strongly suspect there was a LIVE explosive charge in there.:eek: I did mention that to them, but they weren't too worried... it hadn't been any problem for over 110 years thereabouts back then... 1970's.

Within the last two years there was an expert at deactivating artillery like that for collectors. He was a self-taught expert with lots of experience. Well, Murphy caught up with him and he finally had a bad day and one of those big mortar rounds or such from the Civil War blew up and killed him.

Old black powder is pretty elemental and might not perform at 100%, but it can still go bang. You can wet and dry saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal without it losing much strength.

Good idea there, Bawanna'. I've heard of that being done. Also, you could try a piece of stiff copper wire and probe through the nipple. (I can't believe the censor passes nipple):D

Wynn

[jlottmc]

Funny you should mention that Wynn, the "modern" way to make blackpowder actually gets it wet when you go to make the cakes to crush... Bawanna has it right, you can do that, they make special stuff for muzzleloaders that use a CO2 cartridge, but I would check it with the ram rod. (Thanks again my uncle). Dry balling is what they call it when you have ball before powder. (yes I've done it, and it sure is embarrassing, 'specially at a match). I would give it the cursory check with the ram rod and be done, shold take you less time to do than to read this. As for the lack of dry firing, THANK YOU.

[wyntrout]

Yeah. I remember the CO2 kits now. All kinds of odd things happen... a biggie was multiple charges one on top of the other... powder, ball, powder, ball.... Murphy gets around and has been around... forever!
Wynn:D

[jlottmc]

This is indeed true Wynn. There was a technique (never did get all the particulars) that never really worked that in theory one would load on top of each other up to five or six times, and needed only to re-cap between shots. It never really went anywhere. There were even a few experimental guns that had multiple flash holes and such. If I remember correctly, more than a few of them went bang in a very bad way. And for murphy his minions cousins etc. remember the O'toole's...they are bad news indeed. Although it is usually pretty funny when you get to see Mr. Murphy screw with some one else.

[aray]

The nipple is going in towards the back of the powder charge. In you picture you can see the screw that holds the nipple and not alot of barrel breach behind that. If the ramrod goes to or close to that nipple screw your probably empty. If the ramrod saw much use it will probably have tell tale wear marks that might show up too. If those marks go down into the barrel another good indication your empty. Sometimes you can even feel it, the difference between tapping steel with the rod or tapping lead. They do make a bullet puller, basically just a screw mounted on the end of the rod, if you stuffed it down there and couldn't hook anything another sign of empty. Don't lose any sleep over this, it's been fine for over a 100 years, we're probably ok. Thanks for no more dry firing. I want to hold that thing sooo bad.

OK, so right after I got home from work I checked on the rifle. (Well not quite true. My kid had a school thing this evening in proximity to a local range, so I really didn't have any choice but to put a few more rounds through my new CW9 while I was waiting for her, did I?) Anyway once I got back home for the second time I checked on the rifle.

The nipple is fine. Thank goodness. And now that I know about the danger it will remain that way.

I tried the ramrod technique. It went all the way down to the screw and nipple area. I actually dropped it a bit accidentally while it was in the barrel and it sounded like iron banging on iron. And finally, even though I don't have an air compressor, I did point one of those hand-held cans of compressed air that I use for cleaning my computer keyboard (or the striker area on the slide of my CW9) and blew that through the nipple. Not quite the same thing that you suggested, but the air clearly came out the end of the barrel quite freely. So, with three indicators in my favor, I'm going to conclude that it is empty.

By the way, when I had the ramrod out, I noticed that on the small end of it, the ramrod is threaded. Anyone know what that's there for?

Finally if you want to hold the rifle, anytime you come visit the Washington DC/Baltimore area just let me know & we'll try to make it happen. (Well, maybe not in the District of Columbia anyway. As bad as Maryland is, DC is even worse. Despite the Heller decision in the Supreme Court, they're still trying to get around the ruling anyway they can. I'd sorta be worried about bringing this gun into DC lest they confiscate it.) Better yet come out and visit either Gettysburg or Antietam Battlefields. They're both about 90 minutes from my house. I'll come up and meet you if I'm free when you're in the area.

Indeed I need to get up that way and visit one of the antique shops. For years I had my bayonet mounted on the end of the barrel in a "safe" position (i.e. with the point facing back down the length of the barrel towards the owner). About a year ago I took it off and put it in the "deployed" position that you saw in the photo. Now I can't figure out how it goes back the other way! In the deployed position it has this neat zig-zag-shaped slot with a locking ring to hold it in position. Quite clever actually. But when I turn it around, I can only get it on the barrel so far and the front sight prevents it from going any further. I know there was some "trick" to lock it in that way, but for the life of me I can't remember how it goes. Sigh. Like I said, time to go back & visit the antique shops & museums to remind myself how it goes on. Plus, like shooting, it's always fun to visit a Civil War battlefield.

[Bawanna]

OK, so right after I got home from work I checked on the rifle. (Well not quite true. My kid had a school thing this evening in proximity to a local range, so I really didn't have any choice but to put a few more rounds through my new CW9 while I was waiting for her, did I?) Anyway once I got back home for the second time I checked on the rifle.

The nipple is fine. Thank goodness. And now that I know about the danger it will remain that way.

I tried the ramrod technique. It went all the way down to the screw and nipple area. I actually dropped it a bit accidentally while it was in the barrel and it sounded like iron banging on iron. And finally, even though I don't have an air compressor, I did point one of those hand-held cans of compressed air that I use for cleaning my computer keyboard (or the striker area on the slide of my CW9) and blew that through the nipple. Not quite the same thing that you suggested, but the air clearly came out the end of the barrel quite freely. So, with three indicators in my favor, I'm going to conclude that it is empty.

By the way, when I had the ramrod out, I noticed that on the small end of it, the ramrod is threaded. Anyone know what that's there for?

Finally if you want to hold the rifle, anytime you come visit the Washington DC/Baltimore area just let me know & we'll try to make it happen. (Well, maybe not in the District of Columbia anyway. As bad as Maryland is, DC is even worse. Despite the Heller decision in the Supreme Court, they're still trying to get around the ruling anyway they can. I'd sorta be worried about bringing this gun into DC lest they confiscate it.) Better yet come out and visit either Gettysburg or Antietam Battlefields. They're both about 90 minutes from my house. I'll come up and meet you if I'm free when you're in the area.

Indeed I need to get up that way and visit one of the antique shops. For years I had my bayonet mounted on the end of the barrel in a "safe" position (i.e. with the point facing back down the length of the barrel towards the owner). About a year ago I took it off and put it in the "deployed" position that you saw in the photo. Now I can't figure out how it goes back the other way! In the deployed position it has this neat zig-zag-shaped slot with a locking ring to hold it in position. Quite clever actually. But when I turn it around, I can only get it on the barrel so far and the front sight prevents it from going any further. I know there was some "trick" to lock it in that way, but for the life of me I can't remember how it goes. Sigh. Like I said, time to go back & visit the antique shops & museums to remind myself how it goes on. Plus, like shooting, it's always fun to visit a Civil War battlefield.

Absolutely, undoubtedly unloaded, all is good. The threads on that ramrod are for attaching the screw to remove a bullet, what did jlottmc call that and naked bald load, ah dry balling. There were also other attachments and patches an such you could attach, similar to the modern stuff we have now days.
Visiting Gettysburg and a few other places in that area are definitely on my bucket list and if I ever get back there I fully intend to take you up on your offer and hold that gem. I'm sure it will be after the present regime and every single one of his constituates is gone back whereever they came from so the area should be much safer. I wouldn't want to become collateral damage to an assassin.
I'm sorry to say that using that canned air which contains certain chemicals that are very destructive to steel of that era probably destroyed the bore of that fine rifle. I'm sorry I didn't warn you about that when I mentioned the compressor.............


OK, just pulling your chain, kidding about the canned air. All is good. You get a free hit when we meet in Gettysburg...............

[wyntrout]

Well, Aray, I'm glad "we" got that sorted out!:D You just never know what loaded condition one of those things was left in as its owner prematurely departed. It's certainly better to know for yourself that it's truly unloaded.
That's a beautiful and remarkable piece of history and I'm glad you shared as much of its history as you know with us.
Thanks.
Wynn:)

[jlottmc]

Indeed, rest easier, knowing that it is indeed empty. Glad we could help. Actually, 90+% of my knowledge of front stuffers comes from my uncle who is very into the pre-Revolutionary War period, and in fact does many of the Mountain Man recreations. Tons of history in all of that. He even makes his own stuff and is currently working on a rifle that should be really sweet.

[aray]

Thanks much to everyone who contributed to this thread. I learned a lot from all of your comments about both the bayonet as well as the proper care of the rifle. I'm grateful to all.

By way of additional thanks I enclose two more photos of the rifle, for those of you who enjoyed looking at it.

The first photo shows the rear sights. Turns out there are two rear sights that flip up to different heights, no doubt for shooting at various distances. I show the shorter one fully flipped up while the longer one is up at a 45 degree angle.

1514

The second photo shows where the soldier carved his initials into the stock.

1515

[QuietMan]

I didn't have time to read the all the postings...But inregards to fireing it...use what they did in the day, maybe back off the powder charge to be safe...If you want to limit it, fire it only once a year during the anniversary dates of the battle...July 3-5 in memory serves...For many this is a once in a lifetime piece.
GREAT piece of history there!

[quikduk]

WOW! Absolutely stunning!!!:photo: