Guns International #: 101845760
Seller's Inventory #: 215300

Category - Antique Rifles - Cartridge - Civil War Carbines

Category
Antique Rifles - Cartridge
Civil War Carbines

MERIDEN Mfg. Company MILLER CONVERSION Model 1861 .58 Caliber RIMFIRE Rifle

Description:
 MERIDEN Mfg. Company MILLER CONVERSION Model 1861 .58 Caliber RIMFIRE Rifle
U.S. SPRINGFIELD Percussion Rifle-Musket
Here we present a Meriden Manufacturing Company Miller Conversion of a Springfield Model 1861 to a .58 Caliber Rimfire Breech Loading Rifle, made circa 1864 and converted circa 1865-67 in Meriden, Connecticut.
Only about 2,000 are known to have been converted by Meriden, with the bulk of those being converted from Parkers, Snow & Company muskets. Production of the U.S. Model 1861/63 rifle musket was in excess of 1 million during the American Civil War between Springfield Armory, Harpers Ferry and about 20 different contractors. It represented a streamlined and, in some ways, technologically advanced musket capable of accurate fire when compared to previous generations of American muskets. Yet it was adopted during a period of rapid innovation that would make it obsolescent before the war drew to a close.
Many conversions appeared toward the end seeking to take advantage of metallic cartridge technology for a faster rate of fire. Such examples were the Snider, Joslyn, Needham, Peabody, and the most successful, the Allin, and this was not even all of them. This conversion, undertaken by the Meriden Manufacturing Company of Connecticut, produced the “Miller Model 1861”. The conversion was named for the patent holders William H. and George W. Miller. In the system, a release catch found along the top of the barrel was used to break the action open along a hinge, exposing the breech for inserting a cartridge. As mentioned above, the patented arrangement was featured in Parkers, Snow & Company Model 1861 rifles, with this being a scarce example of one converted from a Springfield Model 1861 musket.
The lock is a modern replacement stamped with a large spread-winged eagle over “U.S.” and marked “SPRINGFIELD” in front of the hammer. The date of “1864” is stamped back of the hammer.
Robust action. Dim bore with worn rifling. The walnut stock has a stable crack on the right side ahead of the lock and is otherwise solid.
Own the original! This is a legitimate antique and not a reproduction.
Barrel is 39 inches.
Caliber: .58 Rimfire
Overall condition as seen in photos.
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ancestryguns
$1300
#215300
 

SOLD

Antique: Yes