This is a custom rifle made by gunsmith P.E. Hall of Ashtabula, Ohio most likely between 1848 and 1854. It has a cluster of four .36 caliber rifles barrels (24 inches long) in an octagonal frame. The action is a quadruple set of mule ear hammers, two on each side, with a double set trigger. Pretty neat!
Shotgun
Ljutic Space Gun
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Antiques
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And you all think that the SIG P320 has drop safety issues.
I do have to push back on the idea that Major Smith did not take this gun into the Civil War, if he had it during the war. While the life of the common soldier in the Civil War was pretty nasty, officers were well pampered. They had lots of free time. One of the favorite leisure activities was hunting. While the gun certainly is not for battle, Smith might still have taken it with him for pleasure.
Standards in 1850s were much lower than in 2020s. Consider that yet in dawn of 20th century Iver Johnson used Hammer the Hammer in their advert https://www.periodpaper.com/products/1908-ad-iver-johsnon-auto-revolver-hammer-the-hammer-original-advertising-067905-tw1-228 to make it stand among other revolver of that times. In 2020s it is easier to find revolver with rebounding hammer, than without.
Also consider that as with the British Army, in both the Union and Confederate armies officers were expected to provide their own arms at their own expense.
Now consider that there was a huge shortfall in production capacity of purely military small arms at the outbreak of war, resulting in massive importation of even basic infantry arms like rifle-muskets and even smoothbore muskets by both sides.
(Fun fact; roughly 40% of the Model 1861 Springfield .58 rifle-muskets used by the Union army were made in either Belgium or Germany; J.P. Sauer was a major contractor.)
As such, and especially in the first two years of the war, anybody who enlisted, especially officers, was encouraged to bring whatever “suitable” arms they had at home with them. On both sides, not just in the CSA.
A four-shot carbine that could use .36 caliber revolver bullets, round or conical? Being a .36 it fit into what passed for the logistics train, and at the usual ranges of 100 yards or less it would be more accurate and hit harder than a .36 “Navy” revolver.
And unlike a cavalry musketoon, if the first round didn’t get the job done, Major Smith had three more tries before needing to reload- or go to his revolver.
The American Civil War may have been the first fully “modern industrial” war, but in at least its early stages it was very much a “run what you brung” affair.
clear ether
eon
“…roughly 40% of the Model 1861 Springfield .58 rifle-muskets used by the Union army were made in either Belgium or Germany…”
I have never seen any suggestion of that, what’s your source please?
https://archive.org/details/Civil_War_Guns
William B. Edwards, Stackpole, 1962.
Specifically chapter 21,”Enfield; The North’s Second Rifle”, and Chapter 22, “Continental Arms”.
Also check out The Civil War Collector’s Encyclopedia, vol. 1, by Francis A. Lord. Look under “Shoulder Arms”, where he gives the exact numbers of basically every small arm form every source. The Belgian and German makers very nearly matched the total output of the North’s domestic suppliers.
cheers
eon
Not finding anything like that statement in chapters 21 or 22 at the link you posted; there’s a mention of German-manufactured weapons identified as a M1861 Springfield .58 is a mention of “Suhl” designated rifles in Chapter 21, and there are no mentions of J.P. Sauer in either chapter. Please provide the page numbers.
At the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Custer did not die with a standard issue weapons.
https://fishgame.com/2021/03/the-guns-of-little-big-horn/
Any officer who went in for a black velvet uniform, as Custer had tailored for him in the Civil War, wouldn’t be caught dead toting a regulation arm.
Will someone explain the deeply curved stock butt? I have no idea of how to position it on the shoulder. It seems like to would have to be placed right where the shoulder goes into the arm. There is no muscle padding there.
It works much better than you might imagine. you place it on your shoulder, out the cheek on the buttstock and hold your head qute upright. it will present the sights just in front of your eyes.
A curved butt plate is intended to go on the upper arm just off the shoulder. The toe of the butt plate tucks into the arm pit. And the curved heel passes over the top of the arm. Has a similar effect as a hooked schuetzen butt plate. The recoil of a .36 is minimal. However the curved butt plate works with weapons with more recoil. The curved butt plate was intended primarily to be used in the offhand (standing) position, not prone. With some rifles the belly of the stock was deep enough to rest on your chest.
“(…)cluster of four .36 caliber rifles barrels(…)”
This is like Vierling https://bluebookofgunvalues.com/firearms/manufacturers/VIERLINGS though more common are mixed barrels (some smooth, some rifles) than uniform – for modern rendition with all barrels rifle see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjPxBo3HOWM
Ther were no standards for firearm production in the 1800-1860 period except those set by factories, armories or individual gunsmiths for their own production guns. The Civil War brought some standardization to the manufacture of guns issued to soldiers. This does not include Government armories or arsenals which had specific standards for issue weapons. This applies to Spencer, Colt, Henry, Smith and Wesson and other organizations trying to win government contracts to provide new designs and models for use by the military.
The double set triggers are set by pulling the rear trigger, then the front trigger becomes extremely light. The rear trigger is released and springs up to make contact with the sear bar.
Love the many types of firearms you use. Keep up the great work.
“1948” is a typo, right?
Ashtabula, very tribal sounding name !