In the book "Rifles of the American Indians" by Ryan Gale on pg.16 there is a photo of a Leman Indian Trade Rifle from the Larry Ness collection with an approx. 30" long round barrel. The first 2" or so of the barrel is octagonal of an unknown caliber of perhaps .54 to .58 with a breech plug snail drum almost identical to a the Springfield Armory Model.1863 rifle/musket, but with the standard Leman 7 groove rifling rather the 3 groove rifling suited for the Minie ball. It's unclear whether it's tapered or not. Other than the barrel this appears to be a standard late 1840's to late 1870's Trade rifle with the square tail percussion lock, single trigger and faux striped stock, but no cap box. There is virtually no detailed info on this rifle in the book and I have many questions about it and was hoping you gentlemen could help. I'm aware that in the early 1860's H.E. Leman made approx. 500 .58 caliber 33 inch barreled Militia Rifles believed to be for a contract from the State of Pennsylvania, however the breech snail on these is in the style of the SA Model 1861 with the cleanout screw.
The questions I have for you are:
1. Does Larry Ness have the only one of these rifles known?
2.Was this rifle assembled utilizing a leftover barrel from the Militia Rifle contract?
3.Was Leman known to use leftover Civil War surplus parts purchased from the U.S. Govt. on his commercial firearms?
4.Did the Leman Militia Rifles use 7 or 3 groove rifling.
5.What caliber is it?
6.What are the markings on the barrel?
Any and all information and opinion you can offer will be much appreciated,
