Original Item: Only One Available. Offered in very nice patinated condition, this is a rare early Federal Union Contract Rifle-Musket originally ordered in 1861 by a contract awarded to the firm of P.S. Justice of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This is one of just 2,000 produced by the firm early in the days of the Civil War, when outfitting thousands of new troops was an emergency. An extremely elegant musket in appearance, which reaches back in style to the Mississippi Rifle of the 1840's. It has full brass mounts and is fitted with a patch box in the butt stock.

The percussion lock is stamped with P.S. JUSTICE / PHILADA, which is repeated on top of the breech of the barrel. There is assembly number P / 2274 on the rear of the trigger guard, which matches the 2274 / P on the tang of the barrel. Often there would be other markings, but they have been worn off the metalwork over the years.

This rifled musket is one of almost 2,200 muskets contracted by P. S. Justice early in the war to meet the needs of the Union army and his deliveries were among the fastest from any American arms producer during the war. Justice used a variety of parts which were purchased from a variety of sources. Often using obsolete parts from older arms which were then repurposed for use with his firearms. The Justice Rifles were not held in high regard by the soldiers who carried them, nor the Ordnance Department. These weapons are very scarce today, as few of the original 2,000 survived the war, and the decades following.

This single-shot muzzleloader is the PS Justice Second Type model, which has shallow three groove rifling, brass mountings including a patchbox and brass barrel bands, no barrel springs and the distinctive double-curved brass trigger guard. This was in fact also a distinctive characteristic of arms made by J. Henry & Sons, who in fact produced a good number of the Justice muskets, as they were not able to complete the contract without help.

The round barrel measures 39” long and is fitted to an American black walnut one piece stock. Barrel has a three leaf 100/300/500 yard range rear leaf sight and a brass blade front sight, though the 300 yard leaf has broken off at the joint. Unlike the exterior, the bore is in very good condition, showing a partly bright finish with clear lands and grooves. There is some past fouling and oxidation, now removed, so the rifle does look to have been relatively well cared for during its service life. There is light to moderate powder residue burn around the cap nipple cone bolster, so the musket does not look to have seen a large amount of use.. The ramrod is the correct "tulip" type these were equipped with, though the threads on the end are missing.

The metalwork shows a lovely patina of age, with areas of overall past peppering, which have been left in place to preserve the aged look. The brass components have a pleasing aged patina, with no signs of overly aggressive cleaning. We checked the lock, and it is fully functional, holding at half cock and firing at full, though it is a bit stiff. The stock is in very good condition, showing signs of honest wear and age, and still exhibiting a beautiful dark red brown color, only achieved after long years. There are no cracks, large chunks missing, or other damage that we can see. The brass barrel bands are all in good shape, with functional screws, and are still firmly attached to the rifle. Both sling swivels are present, and move easily.

This P. S. Justice Second Type rifle-musket is a distinctive early Civil War contract arm, retaining its maker-marked lock and barrel, matching assembly number 2274, full brass furniture, patch box, and characteristic double-curved trigger guard. The broken rear-sight leaf, missing ramrod threads, aged metal surfaces, and stiff but functional lock are fully evident, while the solid walnut stock and well-defined three-groove bore remain particularly noteworthy. Its unusual construction, mixed-source components, and limited wartime production give it considerable interest as an example of the emergency arms procurement undertaken during the opening years of the Civil War.

Specifications-

Year of Manufacture: circa 1861
Caliber: .69"
Cartridge Type: Ball and Powder
Barrel Length: 39 Inches
Overall Length: 55 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.

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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.

These antique guns are not sold in "live" condition, and are not tested for the the ability to feed or load any type of cartridge. They are sold as collector's items or as "wall hangers" not for use, and we make no guarantees regarding functionality aside from what is stated in the description. Any attempt at restoring an antique gun to be operational is strongly discouraged and is done so at the risk of the customer. By purchasing an antique gun from IMA you thereby release IMA, its employees and corporate officers from any and all liability associated with use of our Antique guns.

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.