Arms, Armor and Militaria

.58 caliber. 40" barrel searched by three flat, spring retained bands. NSN. Bright finish, blued rear sight, iron furniture, walnut musket stock. Single shot percussion muzzleloading military musket with correct, early M1861 production M1858 pattern three leaf rear sight, Barleycorn combination front sight and socket bayonet lug, sling swivels a swelled shank, tulip head ramrod. Lock marked with a {Spread-Winged Eagle} forward of the hammer and in three lines U.S./NEW YORK/1862. Top of breech dated 1862 as well, with standard V/P/{Eagle Head} proofs on the upper left angled breech flat. Counterpane with two crisp script cartouches, the AC of an unknown inspector and the LD of Lewis Draper, whose block LD mark is present on the left breech flat as well. Top of wrist stamped with a small, single line die SARSON & ROBERTS. Like so many of the early war contractors who intended to produce US Model 1861 Rifle Muskets, the newly formed firm of Sarson & Roberts appears to have had minimal gun manufacturing experience and hoped to secure the majority of the parts necessary to build the guns from other makers and simply assemble the guns from those parts and then deliver them to the Ordnance Department. The firm initially received a contract for 25,000 guns on August 3, 1861 at the price of $18.50 each. The contract was subsequently reduced to 20,000 guns on June 17, 1862. At that point no guns had been delivered by the firm. The first deliveries would not be made until November of 1862 and from that time until November of 1863, only 5,140 of the guns contracted for would be delivered. The delivered guns ranged in quality from 1st Class, which were paid for at the rate of $20 each to 4th Class, which were paid for at the rate of $16 each. This contract resulted in the fewest deliveries of completed arms of all the contracts that were let for M1861 rifle muskets during the war, with only James Mulholland delivering a similarly low number at 5,500 total completed guns. This is for all practical purposes the rarest of the US Model 1861 Contract Rifle Muskets produced for the Ordnance Department and appears to be all correct. {ANTIQUE}