.52 caliber. 22" barrel secured by a single barrel band. NSN. Blued and color casehardened finish, smooth walnut stock and forend. Single shot percussion breechloading carbine with lever actuated tilting barrel action, M1861 pattern multi-leaf rear sight, dovetailed pinched front sight, and sling bar with ring. Lock marked in two lines, WM F BROOKS/MANF'S NEW YORK with the breech marked in three lines, L.H. GIBBS/PATND/JANY 8, 1856. U.S. marked buttplate tang, sub-inspection stamp B on left of breech. No visible cartouches. The Gibbs carbine story is a long and interesting one. The design was appealing enough to the US Ordnance Department that 10,000 of the carbines were ordered, however only 1,052 were deliver. This is because the factory was destroyed by fire during the July 1863 Draft Riots in New York. The earliest production examples have locks marked as this one is, with later production guns have an American Eagle on the lock along wth the date 1863. The majority of the Gibbs carbines delivered were issued to the 10th Missouri Cavalry (about 500) with many of the remaining guns going to the 13th & 16th New York Cavalry. A very rare secondary US Civil War carbine that is not often seen for sale {ANTIQUE}