Kill marks

[Ralph Heinz]

I used to think that notches in firearms were largely a fantasy -- something for "gun fighter TV programs" but over time I have seen several Civil War revolvers with notches carved into the grips and a few years ago I bought an M1842 Springfield that originally came from an antique dealer in SE Penn. and bought locally.

There are four notches below the lockplate and four more on the opposite side. There is also a long notch carved on the underside of the stock between the sets of four. The musket's buttstock on the left side originally had three initials that were carved out and a pair of 2 new initials carved in along with a large Roman numeral X on both sides of the stock and another X scratched into the trigger bar behind the trigger guard. I'd interpret that as identifying the 10th Regt. There were three 10th Regiments in the Conf. Army at Gettysburg. There is no way to know if this musket was picked up there or along the retreat route and stored away for over a century but from all appearances it is a Conf. musket.

With the enormous amount of smoke in battle and the short range of these smooth bore muskets, the soldier who carried this one had to have been very close to the enemy to have known he'd killed 9 men. I doubt the notches represent the number of battles the man had been in.

Has anyone seen other CW weapons with "kill marks" or - better yet - seen any first person accounts by soldiers about carving notches into their weapons during the war?

 

[Legion Para]

Over the years I have seen numerous Civil War firearms will 'kill' marks, but no verifiable history.

 

[BillO]

Quite possible they aren't "kill" notches.

 

[originalrebelyell]

Very interesting musket.

 

[alan polk]

I wonder if some of them were made as a quick form of identifying weapons. It seems the consensus here is that individual soldiers were responsible for individual weapons- they weren't community property. You know, when they had to stack arms with other weapons, maybe when they retrieved weapons from the stack, a quick look at notches would aid a soldier in saying "yep that one is mine"? Just a thought. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Scotsman]

The debate over "kill marks" reminds me of the "blood pitting" so often described on old military weapons. Could be, but probably isn't.

Some "kill marks" likely represent some other event the soldier wanted to memorialize, such as battles the soldier participated in (with the gun). Others are probably faked long afterward by unscrupulous salesmen.

Unfortunately, there are few ways to confirm the reason behind such markings.

 

[Ralph Heinz]

This musket already has initials in the stock to identify it. The notches are weathered like the rest of the stock. Having built muzzle loading rifles for years myself, there is no way to get those rough cut notches except with age and hard use. As for blood pitting, I once owned a fine Sharps M1878 Long Range rifle that its owner had shot himself in the head with and his blood had run down the full length of the barrel and onto the action and it ruined the finish and left fine pitting while the rest of the finish was pristine. The pitting was only where his blood had run downwards. The next owner of that rifle spent a lot of money to have it refinished as it was a rare piece with Freund sights.

 

[Cornpone and Molasses]

The debate over "kill marks" reminds me of the "blood pitting" so often described on old military weapons. Could be, but probably isn't.

Some "kill marks" likely represent some other event the soldier wanted to memorialize, such as battles the soldier participated in (with the gun). Others are probably faked long afterward by unscrupulous salesmen.

Unfortunately, there are few ways to confirm the reason behind such markings.

I like the idea of wanting to represent certain battles. Makes a lot more sense.

 

[UCVRelics]

I have seen these over the years and IMHO I have always said they were battle marks. With the amount of smoke generated I really don't know if you could see a kill shot except if you were a sniper. The initials on the stock would have Ided his weapon from the stack arms pile.