ANother Burnside Carbine

Joined
Aug 14, 2020
Wondering if anyone could help me look up info on this Burnside Carbine. It is a Model of 1864 Carbine. Serial number is 6624. I got it from my grandfather after he died so I don't really have his story as to how he got it but the gun has been in Georgia for a long time so I don't know if he bought it or an ancestor picked it up off a battlefield during Sherman's march to the sea or something else totally different. I have attached tons of pics as those always are requested from all the previous posts about the Burnside's I have read. Thanks in advance to everyone. All help is greatly appreciated as my own research has come up empty.

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Welcome From THE Heart Of Dixie. Nice Burnside. It is not listed in the SRS, Below are the number range of yours that are listed. Also here is a great link with tons of info on Burnside's.

5831 65CO A LOUDOUN COUNTY RANGERS
6207 08 64CO I 4TH WISC VOL CAV
6649 64CO H 14TH PENNA VOL CAV
7157 64CO G 14TH PENNA VOL CAV
 
Appears to be a Fifth Model Burnside, the most common variety. Made from 1863 onwards. I don't see a saddle ring, maybe somebody removed it after the war (not surprising, they are a noisy nuisance if you don't need it).
 
While I'm no expert, from the "Model of 1864" marking on your gun and comparing some of the text in Hull, Burnside Breechloading Carbines and Rifles (e.g., pp. 106-11), with the Burnside delivery tables in McAulay, Carbines of the Civil War (e.g., p. 31), it would appear that your gun, if accepted, was likely delivered to the Ordnance Department in April or May 1864. It could have entered service anytime from a few weeks to a number of months thereafter.

I can't tell from the photos whether your gun has inspection acceptance marks. However, Hull, in combination with McAulay, says the first government deliveries of the "Model of 1864"-marked fifth model guns occurred 2/29/64 (1,860 delivered), followed by 2500 more in March and another 2500 in April. Yours could have been part of the second April batch, 1,500 delivered 4/29/64. About 10% of all Burnsides manufactured (about 5000 of approximately 58,000 built) were not accepted by the Ordnance Department. However, since serial numbers started over at "1" with the guns marked "Model of 1864", the odds would seem pretty good that your #6624-numbered gun, if accepted, would have been in that April 29 batch or else the next 1,000 delivered May 11, 1864.
 
So I got a little more info on the
Appears to be a Fifth Model Burnside, the most common variety. Made from 1863 onwards. I don't see a saddle ring, maybe somebody removed it after the war (not surprising, they are a noisy nuisance if you don't need it).

I actually have a replacement saddle ring for the gun but have yet to put it on just because it is not original to the gun.
 
So a little more to the story, there were actually 2 rifles, both Burnsides. And the owner of the house, an African American lady, knew the guns were there and told my Great grandfather to get rid of them when he discovered them for her. Sadly we don't know what happened to the second rifle.
 
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