Oddball Whitney

[BBurkett]

While doing a teardown to look at inspectors marks, etc, I removed the Colt sourced barrel that was dumped on the market and purchased by Whitney which is 38" and noticed the stock has several imperfections, milling issues that NEVER would have passed inspection. There are several milling spots on the interior of the wood that need further explanation. Also, stock was turned down on a lathe, cut for the use of '63 style bands. A model '55 bayonet will fit the English sourced barrel easily and it is NOT turned down. Here are the milling marks on the side of the barrel channel and under the breech area.
Note: Dean Nelson of the Connecticut Museum thought perhaps it was a '65 Allin Conversion stock that Whitney purchased post war but the cuts don't align with anything. Tim Prince believes it was a piece that Whitney was able to piece together to fufill a small batch contract but it's definitely a Whitney piece, not a put together item.

 

[johan_steele]

Whitney… never fails to intrigue.

But most importantly; will she shoot?

 

[Jeff in Ohio]

There were many types of conversions that used modified rifle musket parts after the War, most famously the Trapdoors and the British Sniders. But also, many oddballs - for example the Miller Conversion. Those cuts look like the sort of cuts made such breachloadees

 

[BBurkett]

There were many types of conversions that used modified rifle musket parts after the War, most famously the Trapdoors and the British Sniders. But also, many oddballs - for example the Miller Conversion. Those cuts look like the sort of cuts made such breachloadees

The cut along the side intrigues me more. It looks like a lathe cut that's so deep it almost cut through the side of the stock at the forearm. Matching THAT cut to any piece is gonna be tough, almost like this stock was a "set up" piece then discarded.

 

[Jeff in Ohio]

Here is a video showing the Miller Conversion - these have a slot cut along the left side of the stock that you can see at 1:10 of the video. I realize that this doesn 't match your stock - but it is an example of the sort of modifications made to stocks as gunsmiths worked to create systems to use up the old stock of muzzle loading arms. As the video shows, you can see the breach block has a part that extends deep into the stock and so required a cut out similar to the one in your stock.

 

[BBurkett]

Here is a video showing the Miller Conversion - these have a slot cut along the left side of the stock that you can see at 1:10 of the video. I realize that this doesn 't match your stock - but it is an example of the sort of modifications made to stocks as gunsmiths worked to create systems to use up the old stock of muzzle loading arms. As the video shows, you can see the breach block has a part that extends deep into the stock and so required a cut out similar to the one in your stock.

Thanks Jeff!