Original Item: One Only. This is something we don’t see everyday! This rifle started out as a Civil War Springfield Rifle Musket, dated 1864, made by SPRINGFIELD ARMORY, as indicated on the lock plate. There is also the “Spread Eagle” over U.S. marking, indicating military production. This particular rifle was technically a Model 1863, Type II, sometimes called the model 1864, with the solid barrel bands and springs. Around 700,000 of all Model 1863 types were produced from 1863 until the end of the Civil War in 1865.
The U.S. Civil war had confirmed the adage of NEED is the Mother of INVENTION. Muzzle Loading Muskets and Rifles were extensively used but new developments continually resulted in a “fresh” breach loading system being adopted on a trial basis. The Union had as many as NINETEEN different systems issued during the war and the ALLIN system was a version that was considered a determination was made to standardize.
The Trapdoor system seemed to be the one that satisfied most authorities so more trials were held, and the trapdoor was adopted. The government then looked for for cost effective ways to modernize their rifles, and one way was to convert muzzle loading Rifle muskets to a breech loaders, as seen throughout the world.
The 1866 Trapdoor…
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