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Item No.:	10633	Price :	$3,495.00
Item :	CIVIL WAR, HARPERS FERRY U.S. MODEL 1855 2-BAND PERCUSSION RIFLE

Description :

This is an original, Civil War, U.S. Model 1855 Percussion Rifle manufactured at Harpers Ferry Armory in 1860. The Model 1855 was the first U.S. Musket specifically designed to fire the new "Minie" ball ammunition. It was .58 caliber and fitted with the Maynard Tape Primer Device. This allowed, in theory, a new cap to be advanced to the percussion cone each time the musket was cocked, eliminating the need to manually cap the weapon for each shot. In practice it did not work well and was eliminated on the later Model 1861 Rifle-Musket. This was the primary musket in the hands of the troops at the beginning of the Civil War. The Model 1855 soldiered on throughout the conflict, side by side with the later types. The shorter rifles were all produced at Harpers Ferry with a total of about 8,700 made between 1857 and 1861. This rifle is in very fine, restored condition. It has been professionally cleaned to armory bright with just a few speckles of brown patina remaining. There are a couple of small brown rust stains on the barrel. The rifle has excellent mechanics with the Maynard priming device still working correctly. The bore is very good with some rust in places but with strongly visible rifling along the barrel's length. The stock is in very fine condition. I believe that it, too, has had some restoration. There is a bit of wood loss behind the hammer from cap splash. The rest of the stock is beautiful. there are a couple of small dings from storage and a short hairline crack running back from the lock mortise about an inch. There is another at the front of the mortise about 1/2" long. This is a great-looking example of a '55 Rifle. Stock no. 29333

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