Gallager Rifle

[Tony B.]

Hi all,new member here from the U.K. Can anyone help me with some research on a Gallager rifle Ive just aquired,or know of a site that can tell if it was used in the civil war, and if so ,which unit it would have been issued to, Ive heard this can be done by the serial no. but not sure where to look,hope someone out there can help me. Tony

[johan_steele]

I'm unaware of any Gallager rifles being issued, carbines yes but the rifle? Some of the rifles may have made it into units early war but I wouldn't expect to see them in anyones hands after mid 62. As I understand it the rifles were pretty rare.

There were something like 20,000 carbines issued and saw extensive service in all theatres. It wasn't terribly well liked as extraction of the spent cartridge was a bitty.

It wasn't a bad weapon, but in combat conditions it didn't compare favorably to the Ballard, Burnside, Maynard, Sharps or Smith.

If the overall length is 39-1/8" you have the carbine, the rifle was another 6-7."

The carbine is fairly common in the NSSA market, a shootable one can be had in the $1300 range. I believe Erma made a repro back in the late 80's early 90's as well.

[Tony B.]

THanks, for the reply johan,the gallager I have is 44.5in.overall with a27.5in. barrel,it is smooth bored,so I surpose I should not have called it a rifle!. Unfortunately,it has been deactivated over here in the U.k.and has a repair done to the barrel release lever.I did not pay to much for it and with a bit off "t.l.c" it should look quite nice,and it would be interesting to know what use it put to, again many thanks Tony

[Severon]

No it should not be called a rifle. Good thinking on your part.

[johan_steele]

Tony what you have sounds like the prewar civilian rifle, it was originally rifled. I may have some info at home on the civilian model, visually I don't recall much difference other than the carbine being shorter. England did a lot of buying of experimental arms particularly carbines in the 1850's when they were deciding on what to go w/ for the cav.

Send me a PM Sunday or Monday as a reminder and I'll see what resources I have specifically on the Gallagher. I have a couple books that might have some suggestions.

As a note the rifle was considerably rarer than the carbine.

[ole]

Suggestion. Skip the PM. Let us all in on the development of TonyB's long arm.

Just a thought.

Ole

[johan_steele]

Went digging when I got home, I can't find any reference to the civilain sporting rifle model of the Gallagher, I'll keep looking. After the war many surviving examples were converted to shotguns.

Markings of Gallagher/Patented July 17th 1860 w/ a serial number equate to an early war model which I also believe had tte same markings for the civilian rifle.

Markings of Manufactd by/Richardson & Overman/Philada, followed by the S/N & Gallagher/Patented July 17th 1860 the later rimfire carbines had the same basic markings.

The wartime barrels were all 22.25" long.

After the war many were converted to .44-40 rimfire or Shotguns. Whether this involved replacing the barrel I don't know but I would be inclined to doubt that. Like I said ERMA made up some repops years ago but I have no idea if they were made w/ longer barrels, I don't know why they would have been though.

After the war Richardson & Overman submited a design based on the Gallagher but it was a dismal failure. They also offered some of those on the civilian market and I don't know any particulars about them.

Hopefully that is some useful info for you.

Btw Gallagher, was from Savannah Georgia and none of these arms were ever sold to the CS (some were captured) as they were manufactured in Philidelphia.

[Buffalo-Guard]

Hello,


Type: Single shot cartridge carbine
Origin: Richardson & Overman Philly Pa.
Cal: 50
Barrel: 22.25 inches

Patented July 17th 1860. 18000 guns produced. Rifle was the civilian version with 44 cal. Later production of the military was chambered for the Spencer 56-52 cartridge.

Used by;

2nd, 3rd, 4th and 6th Ohio, the 13th Tenn and 3rd WV

John

[Tony B.]

Thanks for the replys,the "longarm"looks exactly the same as the carbine,exept for the longer barrel and no sliding sling ring.It has the correct Gallager patent markings and Richardson & Overman [Man.] ser.no.17009 on lock and side of breech housing,with a ser.no.278 on all other metal parts,exept for the barrel which I cannot find any ser.no. at all. The only markings on the barrel are a small stamp of crossed swords with letters D and A either side and 03 below,which is the same as one stamp on the side of the breech housing. Hope this info. is of help to any research done on my behalf, many thanks Tony

[Buffalo-Guard]

Gallager....dident he have a comedy act or was that Gallager II?...anyway

The company also modified the Gallager into a shotgun

[ole]

Where is John Gross in this?

C'mon, John, jump in.

Ole

[Tony B.]

Thanks for the encouragement on my research Ole, I seem to have come to a stop this end,all the info Ive found [from auction sites etc.],the ser.no. seems to fall into the carbine range so perhaps the barrel was changed at some point in time, still Ill keep looking,Ive even emailed Fladermans, but have as yet not recieved a reply, Tony p.s. in the meantime had a great time reading though all the posts around the site, boy have I a lot to learn, but all interesting reading.