Original Item: Only One Available. This is a lovely patinated example of an extremely scarce Civil War rifle musket, the first that we have been able to offer in many years of business.

The J. Henry & Son firm has a history dating back to before the French & Indian war, when William Henry started making firearms in Lancaster, Pennsylvania for British Colonial forces. He even took the field himself as an armorer during the campaign to recapture Fort Duquesne during 1758. He would leave the business, becoming an Iron Monger, but his son and descendants would continue in the firearms business, relocating to Boulton, PA in the early 1800s, and operated as Boulton Gun Works. James Henry would take over the business as the 4th generation, and when his son Granville joined the business in 1859, the name was changed to J. Henry & Son.

During the companies decades of existence, it had supplied the nascent U.S. government, as well as the states of Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. They also provided parts to many local gunmakers, such as P.S. Justice. With the coming of the U.S. Civil War, and the calling for 100,000 volunteers to suppress the rebellion, (not to mention the calling out of Pennsylvania militia units for the defense of the state) Henry looked to produce military arms, as with many other makers of the day. They would produce two main variations of military style percussion muzzleloading rifles,  offered with either a socket or a saber bayonet and were known respectively in the Henry company records as “Minié Rifles” or “Saber Rifles”. Both patterns of arms were brass mounted rifles with 35” barrels in .58 caliber. 

Approximately 952 of these "saber rifles" were manufactured from September 1861 to March 1862 by J. Henry & Son (James and Granville Henry), with most sold to Phillip S. Justice who likely sold some, or all, of them to the U.S. Ordnance Department, and others were sold to Catasanga Home Guard, who is believed to be a Pennsylvania militia company. These are referenced on pages 361-364 of George D. Moller's book "American Military Shoulder Arms Volume III". Further research however shows that of the 952 made, 876 were sold to Justice, and were marked Justice on the lock plates. Of the remaining 76, 6 were sent as samples in an attempt to get Federal contracts, while the remaining 70 were sent to the Catasanga Home Guard. These were all marked by J. Henry & Son, and as this example has a unit marking in the patch box, it is highly likely to be one of those 70.

The rifle design is very distinctive, 50 1/2 inches long with a 35 inch .58" caliber barrel that is octagonal near the breech end, and is fitted with a long bayonet stand on the front right for attachment of a Collins & Company saber bayonet. Like the P.S. Justice rifles, whom J. Henry & son supplied a good amount of, it features all brass mountings, including a patchbox and brass barrel bands, no barrel springs and the distinctive double-curved brass trigger guard.

The rifle shows quite a bit of peppered oxidation on the barrel, lock plate, and other iron / steel components of the rifle, which unfortunately has removed most of the markings that would have been present. However, the tail of the lock plate still has the correct marking:-

J. HENRY
& SON

This would often also be stamped on the left facet of the barrel breech, but we cannot make out any markings anymore. The inside of the patch box is clean, and has the unit marking W A K Co stamped, with the "A" looking like an inverted "V". We were not able to find any more information on this marking, and there is not much information on the Pennsylvania home guard that we can reference.

The front sight and bayonet stand are still present, while the rear sight leaf and slider are definitely post service replacements. We checked the lock action, and it does function, but will not hold at half cock if the trigger is pulled strongly. The bore clearly shows the correct four groove rifling, with past fouling and oxidation evident, now cleaned away. We did not notice any major rust such as pitting or bulges. The brass components, far less susceptible to corrosion, show a pleasing "mustard" patina, with no signs of major damage.

The stock, also not susceptible to rusting, is actually quite lovely, with a beautiful dark red brown color and lovely oil and wax finish. There are some scratches, small chunks missing, and a crack by the lower lock screw, however nothing out of the ordinary. There is also some great "flame" figuring on the comb of the butt stock, which has a high degree of chatoyancy, flip-flopping in the light. Both sling swivels are present and movable, and the original tulip-headed ramrod is present, with intact threads on the end.

This J. Henry & Son saber rifle is a scarce surviving example of a short-lived early Civil War production run, retaining its maker-marked lock, distinctive octagonal-to-round barrel, saber-bayonet stand, brass furniture, patch box, and original tulip-head ramrod. The extensive peppered oxidation, worn markings, replacement rear-sight components, stock damage, and imperfect half-cock function are fully evident, while the four-groove bore, movable sling swivels, and principal fittings remain intact. The unidentified “W A K Co” marking inside the patch box adds further research interest without establishing a specific unit association.

Specifications-

Year of Manufacture: circa 1861
Caliber: .58"
Cartridge Type: Minié Ball and Powder
Barrel Length: 35 Inches
Overall Length: 50 1/2 Inches
Action type: Side Action Percussion Lock
Feed System: Muzzle Loading

P.S. Justice was definitely a shrewd businessman, who saw an opportunity to make money and managed to secure a number of US arms contracts in the early days of the Civil War. Whether he was a patriot trying to assist his country with essential arms and materiel or simply an opportunist is open to debate. What is obvious is that Justice took a cue from Eli Whitney Jr.’s company and minimized costs as much as possible in order to maximize profit. This meant that Justice’s firearms ended up with a reputation for being of poor quality and unsafe. There was at least some basis in fact for the reputation, as Justice was brought before the 37th Congress to answer for his war profiteering and for providing shoddy and substandard guns. One officer, 2nd Lt, William H. Harris who testified about the quality of the Justice rifled muskets issued to the 55th PA infantry noted that:

“This regiment is armed with rifle muskets, marked on the barrel, 'P. S. Justice, Philadelphia, and vary in caliber (sic) from .65 to .70. I find many of them unserviceable and irreparable, from the fact that the principal parts are defective. Many of them are made up of parts of muskets to which the stamp of condemnation has been affixed by an inspecting officer. None of the stocks have ever been approved by an officer, nor do they bear the initials of any inspector. They are made up of soft, unseasoned wood, and are defective in construction. . . . The sights are merely soldered on to the barrel, and come off with the gentlest handling. Imitative screw- heads are cut on their bases. The bayonets are made up of soft iron, and, of course, when once bent remain set.”

Col. (later to be General) Thomas D. Doubleday noted of the Justice arms that he had inspected:

“The arms which were manufactured at Philadelphia, Penn., are of the most worthless kind, and have every appearance of having been manufactured from old condemned muskets. Many of them burst; hammers break off; sights fall off when discharged; the barrels are very light, not one-twentieth of an inch thick, and the stocks are made of green wood which have shrunk so as to leave the bands and trimmings loose. The bayonets are of such frail texture that they bend like lead, and many of them break off when going through the bayonet exercise. You could hardly conceive of such a worthless lot of arms, totally unfit for service, and dangerous to those using them.”

While it is true that Justice used a variety of obsolete and condemned parts in the construction of his arms (similar to the Whitney “Good & Serviceable” guns), he did also produce some arms of new parts. His greatest short fall appears to have been the use of wood for the stocks that was not sufficiently seasoned, which lead to shrinkage and multiple service issues.

NOTE: International orders of antique firearms MUST be shipped using UPS WW Services (courier). USPS Priority Mail international will not accept these. International customers should always consult their country's antique gun laws prior to ordering.

IMA considers all of our antique guns as non-firing, inoperable and/or inert. Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 921(a)(16) defines antique firearms as all guns made prior to 1899. This law exempts antique firearms from any form of gun control or special engineering because they are not legally considered firearms. No FFL, C&R or any license is required to possess, transport, sell or trade Antique guns. All rifles and muskets sold by IMA that were manufactured prior to 1899 are considered Antiques by the US BATF (United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms). Therefore, all of IMA's Antique guns may be shipped to all US States and most nations around the world.

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Pre-1899 Manufacture, no licenses required, allowed to ship to almost any deliverable address across the globe. Please note that for international shipping, these MUST be shipped using UPS WW Services. International customers should always consult their country's antique gun laws prior to ordering.