rifle identification.....with pics

[jlh3rd]

curious about this rifle.....has a crown stamped on it...what can anyone tell me about this....please see all posts afterthis as i couldn't load all pics in one post...sorry


well ...trying to add pic<a href="http://s1017.photobucket.com/albums/af295/jlh3rd/crown%20rifle/?action=view&current=028.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1017.photobucket.com/albums/af295/jlh3rd/crown%20rifle/028.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket">[/url]s....

[Dr. Tim-Boone]

Tutorial on putting photos on the forum:

http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=10.0

[jlh3rd]

[jlh3rd]

[jlh3rd]

[jlh3rd]

[jlh3rd]

[jlh3rd]

[SCLoyalist]

A pattern 1853 Enfield?   Is it a 58 caliber?

[Nate McKenzie]

This is a pattern 1853 Enfield rifled musket type three made in or near Birmingham, England and used by both the Union and Confederacy during the Civil War. It is not a longrifle. Nice piece. How is the bore?

[jlh3rd]

bore appears ok....but i am by no means able to tell exactly......also appears to be a large bore.....are these rifles rare or worth much ?.....who is "chapman"......."tower"....thanks

[SCLoyalist]

You might read this article     http://www.civilwarguns.com/enf2a1.html     - it will shed some light perhaps on the "tower" stamp.  No idea about the 'chapman'.

Large numbers of enfield rifled muskets were imported during the Civil War by both sides.  They're not super rare, but depending on condition can bring anywhere between $700 and $3000.   Buffalo Bills Shooting Store's website has two similar original CW muskets (although neither are Enfields) listed for $1200 each.   

If it were mine, I wouldn't refinish it or do anything to detract from its historical value.     SCL

[Dr. Tim-Boone]

So the stamp on the stock may be the contractor/maker's name (Findlay??)and the 2 may mean it was a 2nd grade musket. The Tower on the lock would indicate that it went through the Tower Armory.....if the date is 1853- or 1858 that would be more likely than if it is 1863??

[wormey]

It`s a pattern 53 british enfield.  Check out the NSSA web site.  Do a search.  There is a lot of information out there on the p-53.  In a nut shell, various contractors made the different parts.  They were assembled at Enfield as needed.  This was the second ( next to the 61 springfield) most common rifled musket used in the civil war.  Good ones are becoming quite scarce and as such are pretty valuable.  Lots of enfield knock offs from Nepal out there, but the legitimate p-53 of British manufacture in good condition is scarce.

[SCLoyalist]

Okay, I put an inquiry as to the meaning of the "Chapman" stamp onto the ML Assoc of Great Britain's website and got this reply:

A name in that location is that of the man who carried out the stocking. The name of the main contractor will be found under the butt to the rear of the trigger guard tang.  I  suspect that this is a typical Ordnance Type Two P'53 that will have been on re-issue to the Volunteers until the re-arming of the Volunteers in 1870. But, without seeing all parts of the rifle I cannot give an opinion.

[SCLoyalist]

And, here's the meaning of the crown and VR stamp on the buttstock:

"This mark was added in 1863 after the rifle had been withdrawn from first line service and sent to the War Office Refurbishing Depot at Pimlico in South London, the site of Colt's old London factory.  There, it was overhauled and received various additional inspectors' stamps on the barrel of a crown over P and a number.  The rifle was then downgraded to Second Class and reissued to the Rifle Volunteers who retained these arms until the winter of 1869/70 after which they were sold off to the Trade.  The opposed broad arrow stamp defacing the Pimlico stamp of 1863 was added when the rifle was sold out of service after 1870. There is absolutely no chance that this rifle was ever involved in the ACW. "

SCL

[dannybb55]

It might have shot Russians in the Crimea though. It is still important of itself.