Harper's Ferry all & Powder Long Rifle

LaurieS

October 23, 2002 17:36

My family has recenty acquired a Harper's Ferry Ball & Powder Long Rifle. I have done extensive research on the piece and have only been able to find information regarding the battle of Harper's Ferry itself and nothing in regard to the firearm itself. Below is a full description of the rifle.

* measures 55 inches. Has original bayonette (not included in measurement)

* has the date 1858 as well as the number 69 on it with these 2 numbers forming the letter "T".

* has the letters LWOK stamped as well (we have no clue what this means)

* Has an eagle on maynard primer door with "U.S. Harper's Ferry next to it.

* the rifle is in fine shape with little or no scratches and is in full working order as it was shot just last summer.

Any information that can be provided will be more than greatly appreciated. We ar particularly interested in a "ballpark" value of this piece as well as any and all other information that we can recieve.

Sincerely,
Laurie
Enfield, CT

Laurie Swart

0

• 

  Iroquois Scout

  October 23, 2002 19:33

  You have uncovered one of the mile stones in the history of American military arms. What you have is an example of the Model 1855 rifle-musket as made at Harper's Ferry Arsenal, Harper's Ferry Virginia. The site of the arsenal is now in West Virginia. The Model 1855 was the first "modern" firearm to be in general use by the U.S. military. It was the first musket length arm to use the smaller .58 caliber barrel with a rifled bore. It was also the first American arm to use the Minie ball which was invented in France and made muzzle loading rifled arms much easier to load. The Model 1855 was made at Harper's Ferry from 1857-1861 and about 12,158 were made. As yours is dated 1858 it would be one of the early ones and should have been issued with the long range rear sight,however most of these sights were replaced with the short three leaf sight during the Civil War. The musket should have a 40 inch long barrel which is held to the wooden stock by three solid bands which in turn are held in place by springs placed in front of the bands. Markings on the barrel should be on the left side back by the breach and should read V above P above an eagle head. The lock plate is marked U.S./Harper's Ferry, the date is found behind the hammer. The letters U.S. are found on the tang of the buttplate. The inspector's initials are found on the left side of the stock opposite the lock. I could not find the initials "LWOK" in my list of inspectors, but I know that my list is not complete. The finish on all metal parts was "Arsenal Bright". Now a word of caution, just because the musket was fired does not make it in fine shape. These muskets were used for all four years of the Civil War by both sides and most took quite a beating. Unless you have pulled the breach plug and had the bore inspected, you don't know if the bore is pitted or how badly. The barrel around the breach plug threads and where the channel from the nipple comes into the barrel could be paper thin as these are the hardest places to clean. Other things that affect condition are: is there pitting on the outside of the barrel particularly around the nipple. How much, if any, of the original finish remains. Have the metal parts been cleaned as this lowers the value. How badly is the wood stock beat up. Is any wood missing. I think you get the picture. As in any antique condition is everything. As to value these muskets usually start at about $1200 and can reach $5000 and sometimes more for those in unaltered like new condition. Hope that this is of some help to you. Scout

  0
• 

  Xracer

  October 24, 2002 06:40

  Here's one for sale for $6750.
  
  http://www.ptsinv.apachego.com/1855harper.htm

  0
• 

  Iroquois Scout

  October 24, 2002 07:02

  X-Racer, I went to the site to which you provided the link and looked at the musket they have there. It is a cut down two band musket and therefore not original. A number of Model 1855's as well as other Civil War muskets had their barrels cut from 40 inchs to 33 inches after the Civil War to make them more saleable on the surplus market. The musket pictured does have the desirable patch box which the early Model 1855's did not have, however, the price being asked is about double what it should be for an altered M1855. Best Regards, Scout

  0

Please sign in to leave a comment.