Last week I picked up this musket. modern target sites aside, it's a pretty decent piece. It's based on the 1863 Springfield musket. .58 Cal and smoothbore. The thing is, the shope I bought it from sold it as non-firing. I have since cleaned it, confirmed the nipple is usable. I don't know why it was deemed as unshootable. It seems to me to be a Indian repro and those are made to be fired, just not completed as such. The only identifiable markings are these stamps on the wrist. I cannot read them or make them out.
Probably sold non-firing for liability reasons, and does have that India manufacture look about it. Wood looks like teak. Big honking rear sight for an 1863 Springfield though. Dump a 100 grain black powder square load with lead shot, tie it to a tire, point it down range, and use a 25 yard pull string on the trigger. If it blows up or bulges, I guess the seller knew what he was talking about. Would be a nice shotgun!
I'm not familiar with them but by doing a little research, I found that those markings look like reproductions of original 1863 gov't. inspector's stamps. Lodgewood Manufacturing advertises that they will stamp similar markings on an imported gun as part of their defarbing service at a cost of $10. "Stamp ESA and HSH cartouches on lock panel. $10.00 Original 1863s had inspector's stamps on the lock panel. Larry Stevens has manufactured for us an exclusive set of inspector's stamps which he copied from rubbings taken off of original guns." --->>> https://www.lodgewood.com/M18631864-Springfield_c_202.html According to an N-SSA thread, the "ESA" inspector mark on the stock is for Springfield Armory Master Armorer Erskine S. Allin," And: "which would be correct for a Model 1863 - Type II (sometimes called the Model 1864 or band spring model)." --->>> https://www.n-ssa.net/vbforum/showthread.php/1071-Musket-ID?s=237398b2c92d8706f0b1365a4f5c519b If the gun was authentic, the top stamp would also denote an inspector's initials at the Springfield Armory, and there would also be other stamps on some of the metal parts.
Yea that was always my intiial thought. Logically, if a person put such sights on this piece, then he/she most likely was indeed firing it. Ironic considering the smoothbore. You are completely right, although I prefer trades, not sales. articap, thank you for the info. That's nice to know. I did indeed notice there is nothing farby about this musket at all, not even black powder only markings. That's why it's so difficult for me to identify it. Albeit, it has the WWI era target sights (for whatever reason.)
I went out today and fired it, and it shoots like a dream. No damage on the gun nor to me. It is very accurate. Just gonna need a short starter coming up, and some means to clean this (The ramrod doesn't have a patch slot in it.)
