Gallagher Carbine

[Rickhook]

Hi - Please see attached photos of Gallagher Carbine I just acquired. Does anyone know how I can find out what year this was manufactured or any other information about it? Would appreciate any comments about condition or any other info you could give me on what you would value it at or anything else. Just got it yesterday and want to learn all I can about it. Thanks

 

[sourdough]

According to Norm Flayderman's Guide:

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Gallager (no "h" ) Carbine. Made by Richardson & Overman, Philadelphia. Total quantity of about 25,000+ (5,000 chambered for .56-62 Spencer cartridge).

50 caliber, percussion, breechloader. Single-shot, the barrel sliding forward to load. 22-1/4" round barrel.

Iron mountings, blued barrel with casehardened frame. Walnut buttstock with long iron patchbox (usually casehardened). Sling ring bar on left side opposite lock.

Serial numbered from 1 on up. Lock plate markings of two major types. Inspector markings on left side of the stock atbreech area.

The Gallager was one of the carbines which saw widespread used during the Civil War, by the Union side, and ironically had been invented by Mahlon J. Gallager, of Savannah, Georgia. The collector will observe a number of minor variations in such areas as trigger shape, sights, breech details, etc. The basic variants of the type are as follows:

Early Production Carbine; the lockplate marked: GALLAGER/PATENTED JULY 1TH 1860 (serial number).

Standard Model; the lockplate marked: MANUFACTdBY/RICHARDSON & OVERMAN/PHILADA/ (serial number);

Final Model; as above, but chambered for the Spencer 56-62 cartridge, about 5,000 produced; has cartridge extractor and a firing pin device (instead of percussion nipple). Often observed with blued frame apparently original.

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It appears yours is the Standard Model. Flayderman gives no production dates at all.

Thanks for the nice photos!

Jim

An earlier thread on CWT:

https://civilwartalk.com/threads/federal-gallagher.143951/

 

[sourdough]

Rickhook,

You now have two serial number benchmarks:

#4814 on the Early Model, showing just the Gallager marking above the serial number.

#14069 on the Standard Model, showing the Richardson & Overman marking over the serial number and the Gallager marking to the rear of it.

If Flayderman is correct about serial numbers, that would mean that at least 4814 of the Early Models were produced, while most Standard Models were produced above 14068. That also means that the ~5,000 carbines chambered for the Spencer 56-62 were almost surely made after14069.

I would think the Final Model would have been introduced near the end of the Standard Model production.

As far as overlaps between numbering of all three Models, there is almost certainly no definitive end to one model and the start of the next model, most likely depending upon fulfillment of possible Union contracts.

Many questions...

Jim

 

[sourdough]

Just for grins, this is an Erma (German) Gallager "copy" that was produced many years ago. It is definitely not historically correct, and I have read that the gun (.54 caliber) couldn't hit the target paper at 50 yards.

A good YouTube vid about the Erma:

Jim

 

[JOHN42768]

Nice firearm. 14069 I would put about late 1863