Southern Articifer
Private
- Joined
- May 4, 2014
Here are some images of a M1843 North / Hall carbine I recently acquired. It's one of the 5,000 altered by the W.W.Marston Co. of New York for General Fremont's army of the west. Many of you have read or heard of the famous Civil War Fremont scandal that sprung from the purchase of these carbines - not a fault of the guns but the unscrupulous handling of the money and politics in their purchase and resale to the government. This post is about the guns themselves of which little has been noted. To start with, all the Fremont North/Hall model 43's that were altered were of dates from 1848-1852. This is because these all have steel barrels and are so marked on top of the breech. The receivers were bored out to .585 to accept 58 caliber cartridges. The bores were originally .052 smooth bore but, were rifled with 6 groves making 1 turn in 80" but leaving the bore .052. They just rifled over the existing smooth bore surface. The barrel, bands and receiver were polished bright, the trigger guard and butt plate were left with their brown shellac finish as they were when they were new. The slide bar and sling ring left on in the alterations. However, some have been noted with their receivers still having their bluish case color still showing. The alterations were done in batches, then shipped to St. Louis where they were distributed to Fremont's men. Now, here's where I hope to righten the confusion about the carbines. While their receivers were bored to accept 58 cal. cartridges, they still used a .526 round ball. What was done was to put a .526 ball in the 58 cal. paper cartridge of 85 grains. The paper cartridge was torn open, powder poured in, then the ball placed on top of the powder. They did not put the intact cartridge in as you would have in a Colt revolver with nitrated cartridges. The Fremont carbines were not well received at first, but gained acceptance and were used for the entire war. It's very hard to find one in good condition. They all show hard use. Mine looks pretty rough but the mechanics and bore are in good condition - well enough to put into a shooter and use again. As a side note to this post, I restored my M1819 Hall that was altered to carbine at the Fayetteville, NC arsenal, one of about 750 done there. This past week, I shot it at the A.C.W.S.A. matches in Bristol, WIS. It preformed flawlessly firing a combined 50 rounds in the individual and team carbine competition. It easily loaded and handled well. I easily could keep up with the Smith carbines that were in use. Final note, the M1843 N/H carbines were used in the war with Mexico. It's the model Sam Chamberlin carried and also used its receiver as a pistol. Here are the Northern (Fremont's Army of the West) units that were issued M.1843 North/ Hall carbines during the Civil War: