What is this? Help Identifying Musket

[bennett578]

Hello all. New member here. I recently acquired a Civil War era percussion musket and could really use some help identifying some of the markings on it. I would love to know more about its history. It has been in my family in Virginia for at least 50 years, but that's really all I know. Please see the photos below. Thanks in advance for all your help.

 

[captaindrew]

Welcome to the forum. It's a London produced Enfield, EP Bond was a London gunmaker. The numbers on the butt plate are some kind of inventory/"rack" numbers. I'm unfamiliar with some of the other marks. One of the gun experts will be along before long with more to add. Paging @Lanyard Puller and @Craig L Barry they for sure can tell you more. Can you post a full length photo?

 

[johan_steele]

It bears the broad arrow stamp of UK military useage 1857. Meaning it was accepted into that service then. It is almost a guarantee it never saw the US & CS during the war.

The rear sight is on backwards and it's missing the rear sling swivel.

 

[Lanyard Puller]

There are no marks on your Pattern 1853 Type 3, Rifled Musket, other than some standard British proof marks (on the barrel} and regimental stamps (on the butt plate tang}. Back in the 1960's they were shipped here in cargo vessels, for the 100'th anniversary of the Civil War. "Ye Old Hunter" in Alexandria even had their own dock on the Potomac. I remember digging through buckets of parts to build your own "Trap Door" Springfield for .50 cents a pound, while watching them unload F-84 jets. "Hunters Lodge" in Tennessee was also in the game. The NSSA {North South Skirmish Assoc.} and re-enacting were gathering steam around that time as well.

As a fellow Virginian (we love old stuff!!} I'd suggest you might want to clean it up a little with a good gun oil {Ballistol} and furniture polish {Kramer's Best}. Leave the rear sight alone. It has been reversed, to prevent the ladder from being slammed down due to recoil. This would indicate to me it was well used in the past.

Pass it on and keep it in the family. IMHO.

 

[Craig L Barry]

Agree this particular specimen is unlikely to have US Civil War provenance. The gunmaker is well know though. Edward Philip Bond was a London gunmaker that supplied a fair number of P53s on contract to the CS based on shipping invoices, distinct from his brother Eyton Bond (E Bond) who did business separately at 6 Shadwell Street in Birmingham.

 

[scooter748driver]

Welcome from the Fort Sumter and the Fredericksburg forums. Even though it's doubtful it was used in the Civil War, as others have said it's a neat old musket. Thanks for sharing it!

 

[JOHN42768]

Welcome, enjoy.

 

[redbob]

Welcome to the group from middle Alabama.

 

[OldSarge79]

The markings on the butt plate tang indicate that it was issued to a British volunteer unit as opposed to a regiment of the line. These volunteer units were very popular in Britain for much of the 19th Century, and some did serve in various conflicts.
The LCS would be the unit. What exactly it is, I can't say for sure. Could be something like Leeds City, for example.
Looking at the rear sight, I'm suspecting yours is a two band rifle, or is the sight just on backwards?

 

[yulzari]

If this is a two band then it suggests that the unit is a Rifle Volunteer Corps regiment and if the 6 is the 6th Battalion it points to the Leicester Town Rifles as the Regiment and a rack number of 91. There are other dots to LCS but only one with a 6th Battalion.

I was in a platoon of the Leicestershire and Derbyshire Yeomanry successor in the late 1970s in the same town of Hinckley as the 6th Battalion was in your period. Raised by the Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire in 1859. In the early days rifles were often purchased by the volunteers themselves direct from the trade. Hence the non Board of Ordnance lock plate. Interchangeable rifles from the Enfield factory were first for the regular army and militia with the volunteers getting their own non interchangeable ones from the trade.

So my suggestion is that your rifle was purchased by and served with the 6th Battalion of the Leicester Town Volunteer Corps in the Hinckley area. Rack number 91. The battalion would have had several platoons from not only Hinckley but also the surrounding area but we cannot tell which. I expect that the butt stamp is to note that the rifle was examined and found to be in accordance with the pattern to be fit as a 1st class service. Not a government stamp of acceptance into the service of the Crown itself.

I am sure someone will tear this suggestion apart but it is the best I can surmise.

 

[bennett578]

Thank you all for the wealth of information. Although the "L" was kinda throwing me off, I just assumed the "CS" was for Confederate States. Guess I was way off. Lol. Have to admit I'm a little disappointed, but greatly appreciate all the information just the same. Thanks again.