Ballard Carbine

[Dallased]

Good evening. New to the forum but a long time collector of older military firearms. Yesterday I acquired a Ballard carbine at a small local auction. Quite nice condition, Ball & Williams and Merwin & Bray stamps are decently visible. Everything seems to function well (still in rimfire configuration) the ejector works just fine and springs right back in place. Fairly low serial number, 353X, and a nice bore. I have read a little literature about these early carbines but I am open to any and all discussions and comments. I will try to post some photos in a rustic setting.

 

[major bill]

Great post. I love the looks of these old weapons, but sadly do not know much about them.

 

[Dallased]

Thank you Major. I know little of them either but when the bidding at the auction did not move much I knew enough to know that I had better jump in. There were some high end Colts and a Schofield at the auction before this and I think that everyone simply ran out of money. I got to come along and pick up the scraps or in this case something quite nice.

 

[major bill]

I do not know much about this weapon, but it is sure an attractive piece.

 

[JOHN42768]

Welcome, enjoy

 

[Jobe Holiday]

Dallased - Your Ballard Carbine started out life as a conventional Civil War military model. Sometime after the war when it went into civilian hands it had the tang sight and hooded front sight added to it. The hammer spur is broken off short because at some time in its history someone opened the breech with the hammer on full-cock. Also, the action is automatically placed in the safety position any time the action is opened. The safety position is very shallow to allow the rim fire striker to be held just above the rim of the cartridge case. The pre-Marlin Ballards were very popular and to have one that has been modified post war is very common. Your example appears to be in very nice condition. If you ever intend to shoot it check the frame for cracks. The square cut out in the frame, where the action fits in, is the weak point in Ballards. This is because the frames are cast from a malleable cast iron, and square cut corners are prone to cracks. The cracks begin in those square corners from the recoil of the breech block hitting the back edge of the cut-out. I recently looked at a collection where the fellow had 8 pre-Marlin Ballards. Out of the 8 arms, 5 had cracked frames. He was shocked when I showed him the cracks! If you have any other Ballard questions I will attempt to answer them for you.
J.

 

[major bill]

It is great to have such experts in our forum.

 

[johan_steele]

A friend of mine who is a Trapdoor Springfield nut... er fanatic... ok aficionado (just in case he's reading) picked up a Ballard Rifle of this vintage at a show with a frozen action for $5-700 and was going to pass it on to me for $750. He took it home and soaked the action in penetrating oil for a week and opened the breach to find what appeared to be a cigar case with the mans discharge papers and receipt for the weapon. Needless to say I didn't get it for $750, he ended up trading it for something worth considerably more.

The Ballard is a weapon that has always caught my interest and I really like them. I just can't afford them when I do see one of the right era. As an example I know where there is a pristine 1864 Ballard for $3000-3500; I'm only $3500 short and with a new little boy en route I'm not likely to lay my paws on one anytime soon.

 

[Dallased]

Thank you very much. I did not see any cracks but I will use a magnifying glass. This won't be fired by me. It deserves to rest in peace and quiet. For now I just like to fondle it.

Dallased - Your Ballard Carbine started out life as a conventional Civil War military model. Sometime after the war when it went into civilian hands it had the tang sight and hooded front sight added to it. The hammer spur is broken off short because at some time in its history someone opened the breech with the hammer on full-cock. Also, the action is automatically placed in the safety position any time the action is opened. The safety position is very shallow to allow the rim fire striker to be held just above the rim of the cartridge case. The pre-Marlin Ballards were very popular and to have one that has been modified post war is very common. Your example appears to be in very nice condition. If you ever intend to shoot it check the frame for cracks. The square cut out in the frame, where the action fits in, is the weak point in Ballards. This is because the frames are cast from a malleable cast iron, and square cut corners are prone to cracks. The cracks begin in those square corners from the recoil of the breech block hitting the back edge of the cut-out. I recently looked at a collection where the fellow had 8 pre-Marlin Ballards. Out of the 8 arms, 5 had cracked frames. He was shocked when I showed him the cracks! If you have any other Ballard questions I will attempt to answer them for you.
J.

Dallased - Your Ballard Carbine started out life as a conventional Civil War military model. Sometime after the war when it went into civilian hands it had the tang sight and hooded front sight added to it. The hammer spur is broken off short because at some time in its history someone opened the breech with the hammer on full-cock. Also, the action is automatically placed in the safety position any time the action is opened. The safety position is very shallow to allow the rim fire striker to be held just above the rim of the cartridge case. The pre-Marlin Ballards were very popular and to have one that has been modified post war is very common. Your example appears to be in very nice condition. If you ever intend to shoot it check the frame for cracks. The square cut out in the frame, where the action fits in, is the weak point in Ballards. This is because the frames are cast from a malleable cast iron, and square cut corners are prone to cracks. The cracks begin in those square corners from the recoil of the breech block hitting the back edge of the cut-out. I recently looked at a collection where the fellow had 8 pre-Marlin Ballards. Out of the 8 arms, 5 had cracked frames. He was shocked when I showed him the cracks! If you have any other Ballard questions I will attempt to answer them for you.
J.

 

[BillO]

I do know that they can be converted to center fire, which I don't advocate for an original, but does anyone make a nice repro that could be used in the N-SSA ?

 

[UCVRelics]

Nice Score. Thanks for sharing.

 

[johan_steele]

I do know that they can be converted to center fire, which I don't advocate for an original, but does anyone make a nice repro that could be used in the N-SSA ?

The only Ballard repo I'm aware of are newer models such as the Pacific and they are rather pricey.

 

[Dallased]

Jobe, I checked it with a magnifying glass and jewelers loupe. No signs of stress cracks. I was wondering whether it is possible to determine approximate date of manufacture based on the serial number which seems low. 3535.