Austrian Model 1854 Lorenz Rifle Musket Type II with Bayonet

American Civil War

.58 caliber. 37.25" octagon to round barrel secured by three flat, spring-retained bands. NSN. Bright finish, iron furniture, beech stock without cheek rest. Single shot muzzleloading percussion rifle musket. Lock unmarked forward of the hammer, tail of lock with {Austrian Double-Headed Eagle}. Lock is a repurposed earlier Austrian Model 1838/42 lock, reprofiled for use in the Lorenz. Type II configuration with long range leaf rear sight in correct long dovetail cut with correct semi-helical profile musket front sight that doubles as a socket bayonet lug. Retains both sling swivels and a correct pattern original Austrian ramrod that is full-length but is missing the threads at the end. Includes a correct pattern Austrian Model 1854 Socket Bayonet. The Austrian Model 1854 Lorenz was the third most used infantry long arm of the American Civil War by both sides with hundreds of thousands being imported for use. The guns were imported in their original 13.9mm caliber (.547), as well as in various calibers that were attempts to ream them up to the more traditional .58 caliber then in use by both combatants. This example is one of those modified guns with a nominally .58 bore. Reports indicate these "modified" Lorenz rifle muskets arrived with bores anywhere from about .55 to .60 on the US side. The conventional wisdom has always been that the the nominally .54 caliber guns with block sights were more likely to have "southern" use, but little evidence backs that up, although there appears to have been more of the original caliber guns in use by the Confederates than by the Union simply because the Confederates were acquiring them as they already existed and were not having the guns modified at additional expense. This is a classic example of a gun likely delivered by an importer like Herman Boker. This gun is purely commercial without Austrian military markings, using a stock made without a cheek rest, all Austrian military guns had the cheek rest, and built with a repurposed older pattern lock remanufactured to fit and function in the Lorenz. A solid example of a Lorenz that was clearly imported for Civil War use, almost certainly by the Union. {ANTIQUE}

This lot is located in Cincinnati.