1864 Colt Musket

[Ken Donaldson]

I have this rifle and would love to have a rifled barrel for it. The rifle feels like it was made for me and I'd love to hunt Elk with it. Does anyone have a source for a barrel? The comment below is from a friend that has forgotten more than I'll ever know about muzzleloaders. Thanks, Ken

Hello Ken...That once was a Colt Contract Rifled Musket...the barrel has not been cut down...but it has been turned into a smooth bore...and as you noted the rear sight was removed....Along with portions of the stock and furniture.

A neat gun for sure.
A excellent example of a post-War gun for use as shotgun/farmers gun and or...westward immigrant gun.
Might be worth having....

 

[Conquerordie]

Maybe the picture, but the hammer makes it look like a Model 1863 Springfield, Colts had rounded hammers like P53 Enfield's.
I believe Bobby Hoyt can line the barrel so that you have rifling, but it would be for shooting a minie ball. If the slot isn't disturbed, you can buy a replacement rear sight as well. Then she'd be a shooter.

 

[hawkeye2]

Yes, the hammer is wrong for a Colt 1861 Special Model. What you have there looks to be in very good condition and it could be restored to original configuration easily. Hoyt can line the barrel with mini or round ball rifling in most any caliber you would desire and lengthen it too if needed. The front sight looks to be wrong but it's hard to see. If the original rear sight dovetail and screw hole were filled it's easy to restore them for the correct sight.

Dan Whitacre can provide you with a drop in barrel with original mini rifling and in either original 40" length or the shorter 2 band length.

http://www.whitacresmachineshop.com/
As nice as it now is I would likely leave it alone as a piece of history. Finding a Bannermanized CW gun in that condition is very rare. Most were rode hard, put away wet and given to the kids for a toy after their life was finished. I have a '63 Springfield with a rare lock and clear inspectors marks on the wood and metal that may have never been fired after it's conversion to a shotgun. I have been successfully resisting all my friend's urgings to restore it as I consider it a part of our history and representative of the fate of many CW guns.

 

[Ken Donaldson]

Yes, the hammer is wrong for a Colt 1861 Special Model. What you have there looks to be in very good condition and it could be restored to original configuration easily. Hoyt can line the barrel with mini or round ball rifling in most any caliber you would desire and lengthen it too if needed. The front sight looks to be wrong but it's hard to see. If the original rear sight dovetail and screw hole were filled it's easy to restore them for the correct sight.

Dan Whitacre can provide you with a drop in barrel with original mini rifling and in either original 40" length or the shorter 2 band length.

http://www.whitacresmachineshop.com/
As nice as it now is I would likely leave it alone as a piece of history. Finding a Bannermanized CW gun in that condition is very rare. Most were rode hard, put away wet and given to the kids for a toy after their life was finished. I have a '63 Springfield with a rare lock and clear inspectors marks on the wood and metal that may have never been fired after it's conversion to a shotgun. I have been successfully resisting all my friend's urgings to restore it as I consider it a part of our history and representative of the fate of many CW guns.

Maybe the picture, but the hammer makes it look like a Model 1863 Springfield, Colts had rounded hammers like P53 Enfield's.
I believe Bobby Hoyt can line the barrel so that you have rifling, but it would be for shooting a minie ball. If the slot isn't disturbed, you can buy a replacement rear sight as well. Then she'd be a shooter.

Yes, the hammer is wrong for a Colt 1861 Special Model. What you have there looks to be in very good condition and it could be restored to original configuration easily. Hoyt can line the barrel with mini or round ball rifling in most any caliber you would desire and lengthen it too if needed. The front sight looks to be wrong but it's hard to see. If the original rear sight dovetail and screw hole were filled it's easy to restore them for the correct sight.

Dan Whitacre can provide you with a drop in barrel with original mini rifling and in either original 40" length or the shorter 2 band length.

http://www.whitacresmachineshop.com/
As nice as it now is I would likely leave it alone as a piece of history. Finding a Bannermanized CW gun in that condition is very rare. Most were rode hard, put away wet and given to the kids for a toy after their life was finished. I have a '63 Springfield with a rare lock and clear inspectors marks on the wood and metal that may have never been fired after it's conversion to a shotgun. I have been successfully resisting all my friend's urgings to restore it as I consider it a part of our history and representative of the fate of many CW guns.

 

[Ken Donaldson]

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I understand the significance of leaving the rifle as is. We often see folks that want to restore Granpa's rifle. I have no use for the rifle as it is and don't need another hunting rifle so maybe I should let someone else have it. What's a fair price? I'm in Oregon.

 

[hawkeye2]

That's hard to say, whatever you have in it plus a little for your time. A skirmisher would either restore this or part it out.

 

[Conquerordie]

It's a Colt lockplate, but a Springfield hammer it looks like, so from the other pic it appeared as a Springfield. I believe Colt barrels had STEEL stamped on the opposite side by the VP and Eagle. See if that's there, then you could say a Colt musket with a replacemen hammer. I agree just leave it as is. It probably saw use in the war, and then had a second life as a civilian shotgun. It happened to most of these rifled muskets after the war. Couple hundred dollars is all it's worth, it's a piece with a lot of history, but unfortunately not a lot of value. You'll see a lot of them for sale on auction sites. Might give you a range that you could ask for it.

 

[springfield art]

Yes, the hammer is wrong for a Colt 1861 Special Model. What you have there looks to be in very good condition and it could be restored to original configuration easily. Hoyt can line the barrel with mini or round ball rifling in most any caliber you would desire and lengthen it too if needed. The front sight looks to be wrong but it's hard to see. If the original rear sight dovetail and screw hole were filled it's easy to restore them for the correct sight.

Dan Whitacre can provide you with a drop in barrel with original mini rifling and in either original 40" length or the shorter 2 band length.

http://www.whitacresmachineshop.com/
As nice as it now is I would likely leave it alone as a piece of history. Finding a Bannermanized CW gun in that condition is very rare. Most were rode hard, put away wet and given to the kids for a toy after their life was finished. I have a '63 Springfield with a rare lock and clear inspectors marks on the wood and metal that may have never been fired after it's conversion to a shotgun. I have been successfully resisting all my friend's urgings to restore it as I consider it a part of our history and representative of the fate of many CW guns.

I'd restore it. The real 'history' was taken away when it was cut down. There's no history behind something that was chopped. JMHO