1863 Springfield combo tool

[63springfield]

Hello again , Pics are of a combo tool for 63 Springfield's

that I have never seen ?!? Or am I missing something here ? Did get a worm and ball puller but I would like one of these if they exist . Sling is off my Trenton and is not proper from what I can find . It is in worse condition so that should have been a clue . Looking at many pics of the war it seems some did NOT have slings ??? Anyway does anyone have a good pic of the right one ? Dave

 

[63springfield]

 

[Jobe Holiday]

If I remember correctly, your sling is an early Trapdoor Springfield sling. As for the 1863 Musket Tool you have shown, in 50+ years of experience I have never seen one of those other than the exact illustration you have posted!
J.

 

[63springfield]

Thanks again Jobe , I was dreading trying to find something I have never seen . So the wing nut type vice is right ? US marked ? See a few of those around . I am going to keep the sling with the musket as they were together for some time but am looking for a nice correct one .

 

[johan_steele]

The illustration was the proposed prototype; IIRC they made a very small number but opted to go w/ a slightly modified M1861 musket tool and to thread the end of the ramrod in a way that it could be used as a ball puller, it had a special cap used to protect the threads. They continued to issue the standard worm as they had huge stocks of them.
Below are a picture of the standard M1855 musket tool and the M1861 tool, the M1863 tool used a little less metal in the smaller screwdriver but was otherwise all but identical to the M1861 tool.

 

[Jobe Holiday]

Johan has touched upon a little known item, the Ram Rod Ball Screw! The very early Model 1863 Rifle Muskets were equipped with a newly designed ram rod, which had the end of the ram rod formed into a "Ball Screw", or perhaps better known as a "Ball Puller". Because this end of the ram rod had a sharp point it also had a brass cap screwed over the end of the ram rod so it could be used in the normal manner to ram a bullet home without injuring one's fingers. This was a very clever idea, because it eliminated the need for a separate ball puller which was subject to being lost. BUT, once this was issued to the troops in the field a huge problem very quickly became apparent! When the soldiers came off guard duty and tried to pull the bullets out of their muskets they found that without a bore diameter guide above the ball screw, they couldn't hit the center of the bullet nose with the ball screw! What happened was the end of the ram rod missed the nose of the bullet and became jammed between the side of the bullet and the side of the barrel. This caused damage to the bore of the rifle musket, which in turn caused fouling and accuracy issues. I have actually seen original pulled bullets that showed as many as 5 attempts to pull one bullet from the bore!

 

[63springfield]

Thanks Johan , Never seen a ramrod like that and the 61-63 blade difference explains why most dealers that have tools for sale call them 63 and not 61 . I would imagine much of the surplus stock was the later 63 type . Is a US stamp on one real ? Most seem un-marked .
Jobe , I can see that really screwing a bore up !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dave

 

[Jobe Holiday]

The US marks are real, although like anything else they can be faked. The closed end wrenches for the M-1841 Rifle and M-1842 Musket are more likely to be found with a US on them than any other cone wrench.
J.