Civil War Confederate Pattern 1853 Enfield Rifle-Musket by Barnett, Confederate Inventory #7201, .62 Caliber, 39" barrel with a very good, lightly pitted bore. This musket has a "BARNETT / LONDON" marked, Tower lock, and has a faint, but still legible Confederate "JS / (anchor)" stamp on the wood behind the trigger guard (the view mark of John Southgate). The rifle was modified after the war by boring out the original .577 rifled bore to .62 caliber smoothbore and removing the rear ladder type sight, thus turning it into a general purpose fowling/hunting arm. The barrel has an overall dark plum-brown patina with thin freckling along its length, and heavy pitting around the nipple bolster and breech-end. The patina and pitting continue on the lockplate and hammer. The English walnut stock has numerous small handling marks and minor surface blemishes along its length, with heavy wear on either side of the lock, as well as a short, with-the-grain crack running back from the rear of the lockplate. The brass furniture has an overall yellow-ochre patina, an engraved Confederate inventory number on the buttplate tang: "7201," and a large "S" in the wood on the comb (denoting that this was the 7,201st musket delivered to the Confederacy under Scott & Son’s 8,000 gun contract). The original ramrod is still present, with moderate-heavy oxidation on the exposed portion, and a period leather sling, ink-marked "FV" on the interior, is installed.
A small paper tag on the trigger guard relates that the gun was used by a J.B. Howard of the 1st South Carolina Cavalry Regiment, but there are no documents, or visible markings on the gun, to corroborate this. That said, there was indeed a J.B. Howard who enlisted as a Corporal in Co. C, 1st SC Cavalry on June 1, 1862. He is noted as having transferred at some point to Co. K, but no discharge information is currently available. Regardless, this is a genuine Confederate-purchased 1853 Enfield, and would make a fine addition to any collection.
This is an antique firearm and transfers with no federal restriction.
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