Muzzleldrs Civil War Rifle

Shawdog

Cadet
Joined
Mar 13, 2021
I recently inherited a civil war rifle from my Grandfather who passed away. He told me it was a confederate rifle and had the JS stamp and anchor inside the gun. Upon further inspection of the weapon I found these markings and others inside the gun. Not only that but it also came to my attention that it was still loaded with a good 8” of mass in barrel end, multiple loads I presume? It also.has a cracked wood butt that was repaired with nails from the time, which tells me it was in battle?
My question on this gun is who was the maker?
Can anyone solidify it Is confederate?
Is there any history of this gun connected to a certain battle?
Is the gun restorable or just a wall hanger?
Any help on this would be great.. I did call John Zimmerman in WV about this and he said I have to physically bring the gun into him to identifying the maker and answering the questions I have.

2ECAEDF8-8283-4BF6-9825-F7A39EF63466.jpeg


62D9064E-1537-40C4-8080-4F29A58FE26A.jpeg


221DA4D6-9EE3-4F53-824C-D0C679CB477E.jpeg


7789FFC2-185E-424E-862C-2E30C028F8EB.jpeg


E34737D3-20B7-43FA-8E6C-09196B7809EA.jpeg


A70688F2-8C50-4614-AFFD-336153E7F64A.jpeg


06E95A16-93EC-4045-9E30-93A37A6ADF1B.jpeg


2C27DABC-51A3-410E-B3B7-6AA2180A914E.jpeg


3C83CD87-0F50-43B1-B4FD-9E35E56A237E.jpeg


8CA38824-057B-43D9-877A-F85FA07CE819.jpeg


13D2E68B-8C47-4178-BAD6-51E804A402BA.jpeg


2118B9AB-6540-4F9F-B1C9-577B547E8570.jpeg


16BB3649-E02D-47F2-8C8C-F1161F45041F.jpeg


466C502C-74B0-44BF-A83E-E1AE7338D28D.jpeg


51B3C843-061D-4AFB-A8D7-3988EBB9AAFF.jpeg


E9F97D8A-BEA7-4E1C-A7FD-C45E26419EED.jpeg


C1D16F24-6D36-47BA-BE41-1173EB276BD8.jpeg


9CBC6937-BF78-4E94-A002-E4EC9354B4F9.jpeg


E4F87B71-D22F-4E50-A31E-079772B6730E.jpeg


561EC598-8317-45C0-8F4C-593A3DEF8887.jpeg


159B3E1C-3B82-41C1-A79C-914B73D7CE0B.jpeg


6F3E402F-8945-4627-A80C-EA8DC77CAFF3.jpeg


F71780EA-83D3-47F6-B0CF-348F017905F7.jpeg
 
I recently inherited a civil war rifle from my Grandfather who passed away. He told me it was a confederate rifle and had the JS stamp and anchor inside the gun. Upon further inspection of the weapon I found these markings and others inside the gun. Not only that but it also came to my attention that it was still loaded with a good 8” of mass in barrel end, multiple loads I presume? It also.has a cracked wood butt that was repaired with nails from the time, which tells me it was in battle?
My question on this gun is who was the maker?
Can anyone solidify it Is confederate?
Is there any history of this gun connected to a certain battle?
Is the gun restorable or just a wall hanger?
Any help on this would be great.. I did call John Zimmerman in WV about this and he said I have to physically bring the gun into him to identifying the maker and answering the questions I have.

Your firearm began life as an Imperial-Royal Austrian Army (k.k. Army) Muster 1854, Type II, rifle musket. It was manufactured in 1860 by the k.k. Army's Vienna Arsenal or one of that army's contractors. After it was sold out of service, either by the U.S. Army after the Civil War or by the k.k. Army, it was transformed into an inexpensive fouling piece. It was not used by the Federal or Confederate Armies in its current configuration and there is no means of determining if it was Confederate, if it was used in a certain battle, or even if it was used in the Civil War, although there is a good chance that it was. Austrian guns were not marked during the Civil War with a JS/Anchor stamp. It is not economically restorable and is just a wall hanger. Other than for whatever family sentimental value it has, its only monetary value is in the parts that might be salvaged from it.

You need to sort out whether or not it is loaded. Kept dry, black powder does not deteriorate and will go bang just as well now as it did 150 years ago.

Regards,
Don Dixon
 
Your firearm began life as an Imperial-Royal Austrian Army (k.k. Army) Muster 1854, Type II, rifle musket. It was manufactured in 1860 by the k.k. Army's Vienna Arsenal or one of that army's contractors. After it was sold out of service, either by the U.S. Army after the Civil War or by the k.k. Army, it was transformed into an inexpensive fouling piece. It was not used by the Federal or Confederate Armies in its current configuration and there is no means of determining if it was Confederate, if it was used in a certain battle, or even if it was used in the Civil War, although there is a good chance that it was. Austrian guns were not marked during the Civil War with a JS/Anchor stamp. It is not economically restorable and is just a wall hanger. Other than for whatever family sentimental value it has, its only monetary value is in the parts that might be salvaged from it.

You need to sort out whether or not it is loaded. Kept dry, black powder does not deteriorate and will go bang just as well now as it did 150 years ago.

Regards,
Don Dixon
This is great news! Thank you. I am aware of it being loaded and could fire, not sure my grandfather knew that it was loaded otherwise he would have told me. I found information on screwing out the lead loads with a rod..I need to find a gunsmith who could do that now. It has two JS stamps on the barrel which I’m not sure about now why they are there... and a circle with a pointed arrow anchor looking stamp, which is hard to see in picture. Do you have s as my clarity on what these mean?
Thank you so much
 
One of the big things that hurts the value of any CW musket is having the stock cut back to make a sporter as this one has been. The JS you were hoping for is only on CS imported Enfields.
 
It has two JS stamps on the barrel which I’m not sure about now why they are there... and a circle with a pointed arrow anchor looking stamp, which is hard to see in picture. Do you have s as my clarity on what these mean?

The Austrian arms have a number of markings on them. Some like the three digit manufacturing date codes on lockplates and barrels [i.e., "860" for 1860] are obvious. Others are unit inventory markings, but I don't see them on your gun. The numbers on the moveable parts in the lock are the lock assembler's identification number; "38" in this case. Most of the rest are assembly and inspection markings. Even the Austrian Army Museum in Vienna doesn't have a crib sheet for them.
 
you may not know much about the gun, but you sure know how to take pictures. great job.
and...run a dowel down and measure where it stops at the muzzle, if it is 3 inches short of the
breach. you have a bomb on your hands. It has happened to me, twice! take it to an expert and he will
use a ball remover to empty it. and they're right, DO NOT shoot it.
keep it for your family history. no $$ value, just stories to tell you great grand kids. Ken
 
I recently inherited a civil war rifle from my Grandfather who passed away. He told me it was a confederate rifle and had the JS stamp and anchor inside the gun. Upon further inspection of the weapon I found these markings and others inside the gun. Not only that but it also came to my attention that it was still loaded with a good 8” of mass in barrel end, multiple loads I presume? It also.has a cracked wood butt that was repaired with nails from the time, which tells me it was in battle?
My question on this gun is who was the maker?
Can anyone solidify it Is confederate?
Is there any history of this gun connected to a certain battle?
Is the gun restorable or just a wall hanger?
Any help on this would be great.. I did call John Zimmerman in WV about this and he said I have to physically bring the gun into him to identifying the maker and answering the questions I have.

View attachment 394195

View attachment 394196

View attachment 394197

View attachment 394198

View attachment 394199

View attachment 394200

View attachment 394201

View attachment 394202

View attachment 394203

View attachment 394204

View attachment 394205

View attachment 394206

View attachment 394207

View attachment 394208

View attachment 394209

View attachment 394210

View attachment 394211

View attachment 394212

View attachment 394213

View attachment 394214

View attachment 394215

View attachment 394216

View attachment 394217
What an awesome gift from your grandfather. Great pics too.
 
Why do you think your grandfather would have taken this gun apart and seen marks on the bottom of the barrel and remembered to tell you that they included a "J S" and an anchor?
 
Back
Top