Original Item: Only One Available. The Springfield Model 1855 was a rifle musket widely used in the American Civil War. It was manufactured by the Springfield Armory in Massachusetts and at the Harpers Ferry Armory in Virginia (modern-day West Virginia) along with independent contractors. The design exploited the advantages of the new conical Minié ball, which could be deadly at over 1,000 yards. About 60,000 of these rifles were made, and it was a standard infantry weapon for Union and Confederates alike, until the Springfield Model 1861 supplanted it, obviating the use of the insufficiently waterproof Maynard tape primer.

Earlier muskets had mostly been smoothbore flintlocks. In the 1840s, the unreliable flintlocks had been replaced by much more reliable and weather resistant percussion cap systems. The smoothbore barrel and inaccurate round ball were also being replaced by rifled barrels and the newly invented Minié ball. This increased the typical effective range of a musket from about fifty yards (46 m) to several hundred yards. The Model 1855 had an effective range of 500 yards (460 m) and was deadly to over 1,000 yards (910 m).

The barrel on the Model 1855 was .58 caliber, which was smaller than previous muskets. The Springfield Model 1816 and all of its derivatives up through the Springfield Model 1842 had been .69 caliber, but tests conducted by the U.S. Army showed that the smaller .58 caliber was more accurate when used with a Minié ball.

The Model 1855 also used the Maynard tape primer, which was an attempt at improving the percussion cap system that had been previously developed. Instead of using individual caps which had to be placed for every shot, the Maynard system used a tape which was automatically fed every time the hammer was cocked, similar to the way a modern child's cap gun works. While the powder and Minié ball still had to be loaded conventionally, the tape system was designed to automate the placing of the percussion cap and therefore speed up the overall rate of fire of the weapon. The Maynard tape system gave the Model 1855 a unique hump under the musket's hammer. The weapon could also be primed in the usual way with standard percussion caps if the tape was unavailable. The Secretary of War at the time Jefferson Davis authorized the adoption of the Maynard system for the Model 1855.

In the field, the Maynard tape primer proved to be unreliable. Tests conducted between 1859 and 1861 found that half of the primers misfired, and also reported that the tape primer springs did not feed well. The greatest problem was the actual tape itself. Despite being advertised as waterproof, the paper strips proved to be susceptible to moisture. An attempt was made to remedy this problem by making the tape primers out of foil, but despite the improvement this brought, the Ordnance Department abandoned the Maynard system and went back to the standard percussion lock in later muskets like the Model 1861. Most Model 1855s were used throughout the Civil War with standard percussion caps.

Approximately 75,000 Model 1855 muskets were produced. The machinery to make the Model 1855s, at Harpers Ferry was captured by the Confederate Army in early 1861. The captured machinery to produce rifle muskets was taken to Richmond Armory, where it formed the backbone of Confederate weapon manufacturing capability. The rifle machinery was taken to Fayetteville Arsenal, North Carolina where it too was put to use for significant arms production throughout the War. As a result of using the original arsenal machinery, the Richmond rifles and the Fayetteville rifles were two of the finest weapons produced by the Confederacy.

The Model 1855 was in production until 1860 and was the standard-issue firearm of the regular army in the pre-Civil War years. The need for large numbers of weapons at the start of the American Civil War saw the Model 1855 simplified by the removal of the Maynard tape primer and a few other minor alterations to make it cheaper and easier to manufacture, thus creating the ubiquitous Model 1861. The Model 1855 was the best arm available at the beginning of the conflict as it took some time for the Model 1861s to be manufactured and actually reach the field. However, less than 80,000 Model 1855s had been manufactured by the start of the war. Some of them were destroyed when the Confederates captured the Harpers Ferry arsenal in April 1861, and several thousand more were in Southern hands. Approximately 10,000 rifles had also been shipped to California, and therefore were useless for the Union war effort.

After the war, most model 1855s were taken home, or parts used for other projects. The primer system lock was unsuitable for conversion to a Trapdoor style rifle, and given the small number produced and how many were captured by the CSA, they are very hard to find. This may be the first intact example we had had of the rifle, while we have had several of the Pistol Carbine.

This example is still in the original configuration, and does not look to have seen a large amount of service during the war. It is one of the later produced examples, and has the rare steel patch box with spare nipple inlet on the right side of the butt stock. It also has had the stock sanded and re-profiled a bit, possibly due to damage near the rear of the lock plate. In this area a chunk may have cracked off, but rather than glue it back or use a graft, the area was simply sanded down and smoothed, which shows the entire edge of the lock plate in that area. Other areas of the stock also show a similar smoothing of the edges.

The Lock is on this example marked U.S. / HARPERS FERRY with a worn Spread Eagle stamped into the Maynard tape primer's steel cover. It is dated 1858 on the lock plate tail, the year of production at the United States Armory and Arsenal at Harpers Ferry in what was then Virginia, today in the state of West Virginia. The markings on the lock are mostly clear and overall the lock plate is in good condition, with wear commensurate to age. The tape primer door still stays shut correctly due to an intact catch, and the primer advance pawl is still linked to the lock mechanism, though we have no way to test to see if it can still feed primer tapes. The lock does however still function correctly, holding at half cock, and firing at full.

The V / P / Eagle Head proofs on the barrel nocks form are present, though very faint, and the date has been completely worn away. The cap nipple cone is present, though it shows wear and oxidation from use. The cap bolster cleanout screw is still present, but definitely "buggered", and we cannot currently open the cleanout. The rear sight base is present and two leaves are still intact, with the third broken off.

The metalwork overall has mostly aged to a lovely gray polished patina, with some areas polished almost bright. The bore still shows strong three groove rifling, with the expected powder fouling and oxidation on the interior. Both sling loops are present, without any issues, and the correct tulip headed cleaning rod with an enlarged shank is still present. All three barrel bands are correctly U marked, with a U.S. stamped on the butt plate.

The one piece walnut stock has a beautiful red brown color, due to having been reconditioned, and the previously mentioned areas of sanded down wood. There is also a crack on the left side by the lock screws, and a few tiny areas of wood filler.

This is a great chance to pick up a nice Civil War Rifled musket with some great restoration potential!

Specifications-

Year of Manufacture: 1858
Caliber: .58" - worn to about .61"
Cartridge Type: Minie Ball and Powder with Tape Primer
Barrel Length: 40 Inches
Overall Length: 56 Inches
Action type: Side Action Lock
Feed System: Muzzle Loaded

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