GDG- 1841 Springfield rifle????

[CWMHTours at aol.com]

Tom,
 
Don't mean to put a pin in the man's balloon but all my life  there has 
been an odd phenomenon with "Civil War rifles.  As a kid in Ohio  several kids 
would show their "Civil War rifles".
 
I've had adult friends do the same.  But I've never had  anyone tell me the 
exact story of the gun.. Nor did they ever say that ancester  carried it at 
Gettysburg, for example.
 
It seems like any old gun that people own is referred to as a  Civil War 
gun.
 
I kinda think the things could be anything.  They  continued making 
percussion rifles after the war.  And they make pretty  authentic looking 
reproductions.
 
Further,  I am of the understanding that at the end of  the war the Yanks 
turned in their rifles when leaving the army.  The Confs  were required, as 
losers, to turn in their weapons as part of getting  paroled.
 
I am sure that some soldiers were able to get their rifle home  with them 
but I can't see it being that common.
 
To add to this, it may be possible to produce limited  provenance for the 
piece if a person wanted to do the dirty work of tracing the  Army records at 
the national Archives.
 
The Army being the Army whenever possible they kept pretty  careful 
records.  If you get the serial numbers and can locate  the records you ought to be 
able to trace the disposition trail of the  weapon all the way down to 
regimental level when the individual soldier received  his weapon. After that 
anything could have happened?
 
Has your neighbor taken it to a collector or appraiser?   That might 
produce some interesting stories. 
 
A  Loyal Neo-Anti Unionist,
Peter
 

 
In a message dated 1/30/2012 8:36:05 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
pennmardel at mchsi.com writes:

Esteemed  GDG Member Contributes:
A neighbor has a rifle that supposedly was used  during the CW which he says
is an 1841 Springfield.  Cannot find that  weapon listed, but there is the
following listing online:

Model 1841  U.S. Percussion Rifle (National Armory alteration)
Altered by Harpers Ferry  Armory and Springfield Armory; c. 1855-1860. Total
altered about 8,879.  Alteration consisted of reboring the barrel to 58
caliber, and replacing  the ramrod by an all steel type having exaggerated
trumpet head profile  without brass tip.

If my neighbor's rifle falls into the above  category, why would it be 
called
a Springfield rifle?  Did these  rifles take the name of the armory where
they were altered?  Also,  were they used during the CW, and how common were
they?

Tom  Ryan


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