Guns International #: 101926447
Seller's Inventory #: 217776

Category - Civil War Rifles - Antique Rifles - Percussion

Category
Civil War Rifles
Antique Rifles - Percussion

CIVIL WAR Antique U.S. ALFRED JENKS & Son “BRIDESBURG” M1861 Rifle-Musket U.S. CONTRACT Model With “BRIDESBURG” Lock Dated “1862”

Description:
CIVIL WAR Antique U.S. ALFRED JENKS & Son “BRIDESBURG” M1861 Rifle-Musket  

U.S. CONTRACT Model With “BRIDESBURG” Lock Dated “1862”

Here we present an antique U.S. Alfred Jenks & Son Contract Bridesburg Model 1861 Rifle-Musket, made in 1862. The Model 1861 is representative of the “everyman’s” rifle during the American Civil War. About 1.5 million rifle-muskets were made in the U.S., over 800,000 of which were made by the Springfield Armory. In 1861 the Union was trying to make up for arms shortages and the destruction of the Harpers Ferry Armory with production at Springfield, supplementing this with contracts with over 20 other contractors, like Alfred Jenks & Son, for rifle-muskets.

This was the last hurrah of the rifle-musket as arms development and tactics rapidly advanced during the short period of the American Civil War. Nevertheless, the 1861 represented new technology as it was made for use with the Minié ball, a hollow based, conical projectile that was small enough to quickly push down the muzzle of a rifled barrel and expanded to create a good gas seal unlike a solid, round ball. Almost immediately after the war, the U.S. military switched from the old muzzle loading type weapons to the newer breech loading rifles, bringing an end to the musket as a standard frontline firearm in American history.
It bears a lock from the Alfred Jenks & Son contract that is dated “1862”. The lock reads “U.S. BRIDESBURG”.

This one looks as though it was sold as surplus on the commercial market after the war and used hard. The bore has been opened up to .61 caliber and is smoothed bored for use as a shotgun, for buck and ball, or even for a .60 caliber ball or slug. The barrel has been cut to a handier length. This would have been a very useful and relatively inexpensive long arm for the homestead or the trails going West in the post-war US. The action remains strong. The bore is dim. The walnut stock shows much use and weathering and remains solid. A clear coat has been applied at some point. Ramrod is absent.

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

Barrel is 38-1/4 inches.

Caliber: .61 Percussion

Overall condition as seen in photos.

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ancestryguns

$1100

#217776
 

SOLD

Antique: Yes