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 12 inches to 44 inches, making it a bit shorter than the short rifle version, which was 49 inches long. The barrel is now 28 inches long, still retaining the correct broad three-groove rifling, though it has definitely seen use. The nose cap is still brass, though they were supposed to have been changed to iron in 1859.

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 still has a crisp Federal Eagle stamping on top, though unfortunately the mechanism inside has been completely removed. This was a common modification after the system was deemed a failure, as it could possibly jam and prevent cocking. There is some powder burn around the barrel nocks form, but the original V / P / Eagle's Head proofs of the era are still clear, though the barrel date is worn away.

The rear of the barrel has the correct long range sight on the rear, but it looks to have been an arsenal spare, as it is in very good condition. The front sight is the standard "barleycorn" style, and was brazed into place on the barrel.  We checked the cleanout on the cap nipple cone bolster, and it is unfortunately frozen, and the cap nipple cone itself shows some deformation from a past attempt to remove it. We checked the lock action, and it still holds correctly at half cock, firing at full.

The stock is now quite dark in color from years of oiling and wear, but does not show any major structural damage. Aside from a large chunk missing on the back of the wrist, it is actually in very good condition. Both sling swivels are still present, and there is a ramrod, which looks to have been modified from the original.

A very interesting Civil War era Cut down rifled musket, ready to research and display!

Specifications (Musket):-

Year of Manufacture: 1860
Caliber: .58"
Cartridge Type: Minié Ball and Cap
Barrel Length: 28 Inches
Overall Length: 44 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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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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