Original Item: Only One Available. The Springfield Model 1855 was a rifle musket widely used in the American Civil War. It was manufactured by the Springfield Armory in Massachusetts and at the Harpers Ferry Armory in Virginia (modern-day West Virginia) along with independent contractors. The design exploited the advantages of the new conical Minié ball, which could be deadly at over 1,000 yards. About 60,000 of these rifles were made, and it was a standard infantry weapon for Union and Confederates alike, until the Springfield Model 1861 supplanted it, obviating the use of the insufficiently waterproof Maynard tape primer.

This Civil War era .58 caliber Springfield Model 1855 percussion rifle-musket has definitely had a very interesting history, with some very interesting modifications, often a sign of use by Confederate forces, or use post war. At some point, it was reduced in length by 6 inches to 50 inches, just a bit longer than the "short rifle" version. The barrel is now 34 inches long, and it is well-worn, measuring out to about 0.60", with no signs of the original rifling present, and oxidation and fouling present over the interior surface.

The rear left buttstock of this service worn rifled musket is marked as follows:

HERLIE
H        

Research indicates that this is Harrison Herlie, who is listed in the muster rolls of Company "D", 29 Tennesse Inf. as "Harrison Herly". This rifle came to us with two mentions of his name in the rolls, and the second indicates that he had died April 25, 1862, though no further details are given. At this time spelling was not standardized, and as names were dictated, different spellings were common. Given the date of Herlie's passing, it may be that he was wounded at the Battle of Shiloh, however there are no details contained in the muster roll. Definitely a great opportunity for further research! For more on the history of the regiment, please see this lovely page on the Tennessee Genealogy Research website: 29th Tennessee Infantry Regiment.

The short rifled musket is dated 1860 on the lock plate tail (the last year of production), with a clear U.S. / SPRINGFIELD at the front of the lock plate, indicating production at the United States Armory and Arsenal at Springfield, in Springfield, Massachusetts. The door to the tape primer system was removed long ago, most likely due to the tape primers being hard to deal with, and not available to confederate forces. The mechanism inside his however still at least partially functional, though we have no way to test it. There is some powder burn around the barrel nocks form, but the original V / P / Eagle's Head proofs of the era are still relatively clear, though the barrel date is worn away. We can also see clear evidence of the breech plug possibly having been pulled at some point, as both sides of the barrel tang are squished in as bit.

The long range rear sight on the barrel has been removed, though the dovetail is still present, while there is no provision for a front sight. We unfortunately have no way of knowing whether this and other modifications were done during the war, or afterwards, as many percussion muskets saw use long after the war. The cap nipple cone bolster is well oxidized, so we did not even make any attempt to see if the cleanout screw is still movable. We checked the lock action, and it still holds correctly at half cock, firing at full. though the mainspring is definitely a bit weak.

The stock shows wear from use, with an area on the bottom of the butt stock looking to have almost been slimmed down with an axe long ago. The right side of the butt stock also shows relatively heavy wear around the patch box, which shows a lovely oxidized patina. The sling swivels were both been removed long ago, and per the information we received with the rifle, the steel nose cap is a replacement.

A fantastic Civil War era Cut down rifled musket, named to an Identified Confederate KIA Soldier! Ready to research and display!

Specifications (Musket):-

Year of Manufacture: 1860
Caliber: .58" - worn to .60"
Cartridge Type: Minié Ball and Cap
Barrel Length: 34 Inches
Overall Length: 50 Inches
Action type: Side Action Lock
Feed System: Muzzle Loaded

More on the Springfield Model 1855

Earlier U.S. Military muskets had mostly been smoothbore flintlocks. In the 1840s, the unreliable flintlocks had been replaced by much more reliable and weather resistant percussion cap systems. The smoothbore barrel and inaccurate round ball were also being replaced by rifled barrels and the newly invented Minié ball. This increased the typical effective range of a musket from about fifty yards (46 m) to several hundred yards. The Model 1855 had an effective range of 500 yards (460 m) and was deadly to over 1,000 yards (910 m).

The barrel on the Model 1855 was .58 caliber, which was smaller than previous muskets. The Springfield Model 1816 and all of its derivatives up through the Springfield Model 1842 had been .69 caliber, but tests conducted by the U.S. Army showed that the smaller .58 caliber was more accurate when used with a Minié ball.

The Model 1855 also used the Maynard tape primer, which was an attempt at improving the percussion cap system that had been previously developed. Instead of using individual caps which had to be placed for every shot, the Maynard system used a tape which was automatically fed every time the hammer was cocked, similar to the way a modern child's cap gun works. While the powder and Minié ball still had to be loaded conventionally, the tape system was designed to automate the placing of the percussion cap and therefore speed up the overall rate of fire of the weapon. The Maynard tape system gave the Model 1855 a unique hump under the musket's hammer. The weapon could also be primed in the usual way with standard percussion caps if the tape was unavailable. The Secretary of War at the time Jefferson Davis authorized the adoption of the Maynard system for the Model 1855.

In the field, the Maynard tape primer proved to be unreliable. Tests conducted between 1859 and 1861 found that half of the primers misfired, and also reported that the tape primer springs did not feed well. The greatest problem was the actual tape itself. Despite being advertised as waterproof, the paper strips proved to be susceptible to moisture. An attempt was made to remedy this problem by making the tape primers out of foil, but despite the improvement this brought, the Ordnance Department abandoned the Maynard system and went back to the standard percussion lock in later muskets like the Model 1861. Most Model 1855s were used throughout the Civil War with standard percussion caps.

Approximately 75,000 Model 1855 muskets were produced. The machinery to make the Model 1855s, at Harpers Ferry was captured by the Confederate Army in early 1861. The captured machinery to produce rifle muskets was taken to Richmond Armory, where it formed the backbone of Confederate weapon manufacturing capability. The rifle machinery was taken to Fayetteville Arsenal, North Carolina where it too was put to use for significant arms production throughout the War. As a result of using the original arsenal machinery, the Richmond rifles and the Fayetteville rifles were two of the finest weapons produced by the Confederacy.

The Model 1855 was in production until 1860 and was the standard-issue firearm of the regular army in the pre-Civil War years. The need for large numbers of weapons at the start of the American Civil War saw the Model 1855 simplified by the removal of the Maynard tape primer and a few other minor alterations to make it cheaper and easier to manufacture, thus creating the ubiquitous Model 1861. The Model 1855 was the best arm available at the beginning of the conflict as it took some time for the Model 1861s to be manufactured and actually reach the field. However, less than 80,000 Model 1855s had been manufactured by the start of the war. Some of them were destroyed when the Confederates captured the Harpers Ferry arsenal in April 1861, and several thousand more were in Southern hands. Approximately 10,000 rifles had also been shipped to California, and therefore were useless for the Union war effort.

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