I have been trying to research the Model 1841 produced at Harpers Ferry and have seen a few pics of other rifles but am not sure if everything on this rifle is legit.
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Link
I can get this one pic up but there are 44 others so I will put the link to the photobucket address so you can see the rest. I put them up as a slideshow but you can freeze on any pic to study it a little better.
The barrel is 33" long, bore measures .533 using my calipers and the rifling is in nice shape. From the research I found these barrels were browned and this one has some surface rust over that. I know better than to "clean" it up but if you scratch at the finish with your finger nail some of that grit comes off and you can see the brown color under it. It looks like this rifle was kept in the attic and not out in the barn.
Lock stamped Harpers Ferry, 1853, behind the hammer and and has the eagle in front of it. The barrel has what looks like 1853 stamped on the top tang. There is a letter s stamped on the right barrel flat just in front of the bolster.
The letters W W are stamped on the left side of
P
the barrel above the flat on that side. I can see some other markings behind those but can't make them out. From the little I was able to learn these were proof marks. They are there but tough to make out. It has the correct brass front sight and rear V notch.
It does look like someone, at sometime in its life, dropped the rifle muzzle down. You can see in the pic that the top of the barel at the muzzle is damaged.
Probably fell against a boulder when the soldier carrying it was shot and killed bravely defending his position against overwhelming odds.
The letters J L B are stamped on the left of the stock above the trigger and inside the patch box. There is a spare nipple in the box. The ramrod is a steel tupip tip. From my surfing I saw that the original rods were brass tipped and the later, around1855, rifles were fitted with these steel tipped rods so they could be used with the minnie balls.
That was one of my concerns. Woulda, coulda, shoulda, 1853 rifle have this type of rod. This rifle was not altered to the bigger caliber but it has the steel tipped rod.
This rifle was used. There is some checking in the stock behind the lock. It looks like the wood has dried out and the grain lines opened up a little. They really don't look like cracks but it's tough to tell. The are various nicks and dings in the wood but no other splits or cracks that I can see.
The lock functions fine. The hammer spring is really strong and there is no play or slop in the trigger. The barrel does have a fine coating of surface rust on it. As I said before, if you scratch at it with your fingernail you can see a smooth brown finish beneath it. The steel has no pitting in it just an overall brown "patina". The brass is tarnished. The rear band has a small scratch in it and the butt plate has a few dings in the top edge.
I have put the photobucket link up so you can take at look at it. There are 45 pics. I tried to show everything I could.
The question is, should I buy it and what is it worth? The owner told me somebody told him, you know how that goes, that it could be worth between 3 and 4 THOUSAND. I would have to think about that for a while.
Thanks in advance for any help.
AJ
]Link[/url] Link
I can get this one pic up but there are 44 others so I will put the link to the photobucket address so you can see the rest. I put them up as a slideshow but you can freeze on any pic to study it a little better.
The barrel is 33" long, bore measures .533 using my calipers and the rifling is in nice shape. From the research I found these barrels were browned and this one has some surface rust over that. I know better than to "clean" it up but if you scratch at the finish with your finger nail some of that grit comes off and you can see the brown color under it. It looks like this rifle was kept in the attic and not out in the barn.
Lock stamped Harpers Ferry, 1853, behind the hammer and and has the eagle in front of it. The barrel has what looks like 1853 stamped on the top tang. There is a letter s stamped on the right barrel flat just in front of the bolster.
The letters W W are stamped on the left side of
P
the barrel above the flat on that side. I can see some other markings behind those but can't make them out. From the little I was able to learn these were proof marks. They are there but tough to make out. It has the correct brass front sight and rear V notch.
It does look like someone, at sometime in its life, dropped the rifle muzzle down. You can see in the pic that the top of the barel at the muzzle is damaged.
Probably fell against a boulder when the soldier carrying it was shot and killed bravely defending his position against overwhelming odds.
The letters J L B are stamped on the left of the stock above the trigger and inside the patch box. There is a spare nipple in the box. The ramrod is a steel tupip tip. From my surfing I saw that the original rods were brass tipped and the later, around1855, rifles were fitted with these steel tipped rods so they could be used with the minnie balls.
That was one of my concerns. Woulda, coulda, shoulda, 1853 rifle have this type of rod. This rifle was not altered to the bigger caliber but it has the steel tipped rod.
This rifle was used. There is some checking in the stock behind the lock. It looks like the wood has dried out and the grain lines opened up a little. They really don't look like cracks but it's tough to tell. The are various nicks and dings in the wood but no other splits or cracks that I can see.
The lock functions fine. The hammer spring is really strong and there is no play or slop in the trigger. The barrel does have a fine coating of surface rust on it. As I said before, if you scratch at it with your fingernail you can see a smooth brown finish beneath it. The steel has no pitting in it just an overall brown "patina". The brass is tarnished. The rear band has a small scratch in it and the butt plate has a few dings in the top edge.
I have put the photobucket link up so you can take at look at it. There are 45 pics. I tried to show everything I could.
The question is, should I buy it and what is it worth? The owner told me somebody told him, you know how that goes, that it could be worth between 3 and 4 THOUSAND. I would have to think about that for a while.
Thanks in advance for any help.
AJ
) but his asking price does seem to be a little (?) high to me. Check Flayderman's Guide for a reasonably accurate estimate of the value and go from there.
