Antique CIVIL WAR Era BALL & WILLIAMS Assembled .56 BALLARD PATENT Carbine SCARCE; 1 of About 1,000 Assembled for MERWIN &BRAY

Description:
Antique CIVIL WAR Era BALL & WILLIAMS Assembled .56 BALLARD PATENT Carbine

SCARCE; 1 of About 1,000 Assembled for MERWIN &BRAY

Here Ancestry Guns presents an antique Ball & Williams Assembled Ballard Patent Carbine in .56 Spencer, made circa 1864 in Worcester, Massachusetts. Manufactured from 1862 to 1865, Ball & Williams received a U.S. Government contract for 5,000 carbines in January of 1864. They delivered 1,000 by March 16, 1864 and 500 by August 1, 1864 before forfeiting the balance of the contract because of higher prices from their Kentucky contracts. 1,200 were sent to Vermont and another 600 were rejected by the government and sold on the open market.

However, there is a much rarer martial variant of the Ballard carbine that exists. The firm of Dwight, Chapin & Company of Bridgeport, Connecticut, produced these extremely scarce guns. In the fall of 1862, Merwin & Bray received a contract from the U.S. Government for 1,000 Ballard patent rifles and 1,000 Ballard patent carbines. Unlike the arms being produced by Ball & Williams, these guns were to be manufactured in a larger 56-56 Ballard caliber. This was the same cartridge as the currently issued 56-56 Spencer, sometimes referred to as 56-52 Spencer. Ball & Williams were overloaded with their contracts for the .44 and .46 caliber Ballards and could not take on any more orders. As a result, Merwin & Bray contracted with Dwight, Chapin & Company to produce the guns. According to sources, Dwight, Chapin & Company delivered only 115 of the 56-56 Ballard carbines by September of 1863, and the company subsequently failed. At this time, Ball & Williams bought both the finished and unfinished guns and parts at and proceeded to try to complete the contract. Sources agree that they managed to assemble an additional 1,000 carbines and 635 rifles in 56-56 Ballard, and most sources note that all but 35 of the rifles ended up being sold to the State of Kentucky. The guns finished by Ball & Williams are only marked with the Merwin & Bray and Ballard patent marks, as is this example, and do not bear any Ball & Williams markings. Additionally, the guns and receivers that originally had Dwight, Chapin & Co markings had those marking removed prior to their sale by Ball & Williams. 

The Ballard design was one of the favorite long arms during the Civil War period, though production numbers do not necessarily reflect it. The original designer was Charles H. Ballard and his agents Merwin & Bray oversaw production between several different companies. It was a simple, single shot falling block action and was one of the early guns that would fire a metallic cartridge.

The overall condition is good. Original dark patina. Excellent action. The bore is bright with strong rifling. Markings are legible. The stock is solid with a stable crack on the right wrist. Blade front and two-leaf rear sights.

Own the original! This is a legitimate antique and not a reproduction.

Barrel is 22 inches.

Caliber: .56-56

Overall condition as seen in photos.

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$4000

#259587
 

Antique: Yes

Price: $4,000.00
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