1861 Springfield Rifle

[Targets Guy]

Somehow this rifle came up over in the handejector forum and I said if I got some photos from my cousin I would post them.

My great-grandfather and his brother were in the Civil War. They were mustered in in 1862. Their outfit was the 93 Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry.

As a young boy I was drawn to his rifle. Played with it a lot and learned my manual of arms with it. We had his entire kit to play with; from belt buckle to bayonet scabbard.

My cousin sent some photos today and here they are:

 

[moosedog]

Nice piece of history. Keep that baby in the family.

 

[Absalom]

...

My great-grandfather and his brother were in the Civil War. They were mustered in in 1862. Their outfit was the 93 Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry.

As a young boy I was drawn to his rifle. Played with it a lot and learned my manual of arms with it. We had his entire kit to play with; from belt buckle to bayonet scabbard.
......

That musket held up really nicely over the years. Your family obviously took good care of it.

When I was doing CW reenacting a few decades back, some of the guys' modern replica Springfields from Pedersoli or Euroarms looked worse after a few "campaign seasons" than your original

 

[Targets Guy]

That musket held up really nicely over the years. Your family obviously took good care of it.

When I was doing CW reenacting a few decades back, some of the guys' modern replica Springfields from Pedersoli or Euroarms looked worse after a few "campaign seasons" than your original

My Uncle stripped it down in the mid 80's. The wood ended up a little darker than when he started. I haven't seen it in over 50 years but it all came back to me when I opened the jpeg files today. We had the entire kit as kids; belt, buckle, bayonet and scabbard, cartridge, powder and primer pouches but somehow they went missing when the family moved from Iowa to Connecticut.

 

[Targets Guy]

and this is the other rifle he brought back.