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Title:	RIFLE/MUSKET -  U.S. RIFLE-MUSKET MODEL 1863 TYPE I PERCUSSION .58
Maker/Manufacturer:	SPRINGFIELD ARMORY
Date of Manufacture:	1863
Eminent Figure:
Catalog Number:	SPAR 954
Measurements:	OL:142.2CM 56" BL:101.6CM 40" 8.12 lbs.

Object Description:

U.S. RIFLE-MUSKET MODEL 1863 TYPE I PERCUSSION .58
Manufactured by Springfield Armory, Springfield, Ma. in 1863 - Standard Model 1863 Type I single-shot muzzleloading rifle-musket. Barrel band retaining springs eliminated. Bands were now held in place by a screw. Tulip head shaped ramrod made without a swell and held in place by a rod spring. Lock casehardened in blue gray colors. The two-leaf rear sight is blued and is graduated to 500 yards. The sight is located 2 3/4" from the breech. Iron blade type front sight which doubles as a bayonet stud. Weapon has an overall length of 56" and a barrel length of 40". Weapon weighs approximately 8.12 lbs. Weapon has a number of condemned parts. This is one of 217,784 weapons manufactured at Springfield Armory in 1863. This model was approved by the Ordnance Department on February 9, 1863. Springfield manufactured approximately 273,265 of these from 1863 to early 1864.

Markings:
Lock: 1863 behind hammer. Eagle. U.S./SPRINGFIELD front of hammer.
Barrel: V/P/Eaglehead.
Stock: ESA in oval. ESA = Erskine S. Allin.
Nipple bolster: Eagle.
Buttplate: U.S. 576 (possibly old Museum number.)
Trigger guard: C. C = condemned.
Bands: U/C. C = condemned.

1909 Catalog # 0163 - "Musket. Sp'f'd Rifled Percussion Musket. Cal..58. Mod. 1863. M'f'd 1863.

Notes: In 1863, many of the alterations suggested by Colt in their Special Model were incorporated in the M1863, except for the lockplate. The bolster was shorter with a flat surface and elimination of the clean-out screw. Bands were screwed on rather than spring-fastened. The hammer, while S-shaped, was more flat and faceted rather than rounded like the Special Model.

"...Springfield Armory would produce in 1863 a total of 57,748 Model 1861 Rifle Muskets and 183,064 Model 1863 Rifle Muskets or a little under 20,000 per month. Production in the North was constrained only by contracts awarded." - Davies

"...Not all Yankee soldiers preferred Springfields over Enfields, however. When men of Colonel Henry O. Ryerson's Tenth New Jersey Infantry turned in their Enfields for Springfields in the spring of 1864, many of the new guns' mainsprings broke after they were cocked a few times. Regretting the exchange, Ryerson quixotically decided to 'rely on the bayonet; in the upcoming campaign. He did not survive it....
Not all of the men in the Fifteenth New Jersey were glad to exchange their Enfields for Springfields, and the regimental historian remembered that 'numbers of our soldiers had learned to love the old Enfields, to which they had grown accustomed, and with which they fancied they could shoot farther, and with more certainty of aim." - Bilby

References:
Ball, Robert W.D. SPRINGFIELD ARMORY: SHOULDER WEAPONS 1795-1968. Antique Trader Book. Norfolk, Va. 1997.
Bilby, Joseph G. CIVIL WAR FIREARMS: THEIR HISTORICAL BACKGROUND, TACTICAL USE AND MODERN COLLECTING AND SHOOTING. Combined Books. Pa. 1996.
Clark, David C. ARMS FOR THE NATION. Scott A. Duff. Export, Pa. 1992.
Davies, Paul J. C.S. ARMORY RICHMOND. American Society of Arms Collectors. Bethlehem, Pa. 2000.
Flayderman, Norm. FLAYDERMAN'S GUIDE TO ANTIQUE AMERICAN FIREARMS...AND THEIR VALUES. 6th Ed. DBI Books, Inc. Northbrook, Il. 1994.
Reilly, Robert. U.S. MILITARY SMALL ARMS 1816-1865. The Eagle Press. Baton Rouge, La. 1970.