A Florence Armory Rifle

Lanyard Puller

First Sergeant
Joined
Nov 29, 2017
Location
South Carolina
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This rare rifle is more of the spoils from the Franklin Show, which some of you Rebel collectors might appreciate seeing. Complete descriptions of the Armory, principals, and products can be found in Murphy & Madeus, Confederate Rifles & Muskets.

The Florence Armory was located in Jamestown, NC in the midst of the Guildford County gunsmiths; Henry Lamb, Clapp & Gates, Mendenhall Jones & Gardner, Sercy & Moore, etc. These independent contractors made up the bulk of NC made weapons, in addition to Asheville and Fayetteville.

This particular rifle is late production, as the early Florence Armory rifles were alterations of "country" rifles into a military configuration. The later rifles, as this one, were an accumulation of all the left over parts, gathered from other makers, and assembled as best they could.

I couldn't get a usable photograph of the bore and rifling, but it's the worse { Confederate Awesome} part of the rifle. .54 caliber, 4 lands and grooves {one of the cutters was broken, so "3 1/2 grooves", bored off center, and cut almost straight with very, very little twist for about 14 inches. The rest of the barrel to the breech is a smooth bore. I guess when the inspector looked down the barrel he saw the rifling and figured it was all there.

The rifle is unmarked except for 7 punch dots, and "VII" on major parts.

Overall it follows the lines of an 1841 "Mississippi" without a patch b0x.
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The locks were made by Henry Lamb, a partner in the Armory, who also made contract made rifles for NC and before the war, some fine examples of Guildford County long rifles. It's without doubt the best part of the gun.
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Brass was sand cast and of very high copper content.
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The in letting, on the other hand left a bit to be desired.
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Add the special ram rod for the unique rifling.
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That's as good as they could do in early 1865. This rifle is a very recent find and makes 9 Florence rifles presently known.
 
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VERY NICE. That ramrod intrigues me.
 
I like that gun, though not as nice as some other North Carolina products, (like the Type 3 and 4 Fayetteville's, I love the look of the "s" hammers), but at least the gun doesn't look as shoddy as Arkadelphia rifles.

But that ramrod and tiny trigger, very interesting gun.
 
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