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CS Imported P-1858 Naval Rifle - JS/Anchor & Engraved # - With #'d Cutlass Bayonet!

CS Imported P-1858 Naval Rifle - JS/Anchor & Engraved # - With #'d Cutlass Bayonet!

  • Product Code: FLA-1903-SOLD
  • Availability: Out Of Stock
  • $1.00


This is a wonderful example of the rarely encountered Confederate imported P-1858 Naval Rifle, complete with the Confederate imported Pattern 1859 Type II Cutlass Bayonet. The gun bears the highly desirable Confederate J S / (ANCHOR) viewer’s mark behind the triggerguard, and has the engraved Confederate inventory number 561 on the tang of the brass buttplate. The same inventory number is engraved on the ramrod as well. The gun is accompanied by the appropriate P-1859 Cutlass bayonet, which is engraved with the Confederate inventory number 562, only one number off from the rifle. To my knowledge, there are no known matching number Naval rifle and cutlass bayonet combinations extant, and this pairing is the closest direct match known to exist.

During the early days of the American Civil War, the Confederacy exerted Herculean effort to obtain high quality weapons for its military. Confederate purchasing agents in England concentrated on obtaining all available “Enfield” pattern arms that could be purchased. While the purchases concentrated on P-1853 Enfield rifle muskets for the infantry, a number of short rifles and carbines were obtained as well. Confederate documents reveal that these early orders included 30,000 P-1853 “Long Enfields’ (obtained from Sinclair, Hamilton & Company), as well as approximately 10,000 “short rifles’ of varying patterns. These guns are the ones that appear with the J S / (ANCHOR) viewer’s mark and Confederate inventory number markings. The “Long Enfields’ were serialized in three series, from 1-9999, 1-9999 A and 1-9999 B. The short rifles were simply serialized 1-9999, without series letters. The short rifles were a mixture of standard P-1856 and P-1856 Type II (Bar on Band) iron mounted rifles, as well as non-standard brass mounted P-1856 and P-1856 Type II rifles and a handful of the brass mounted P-1858 Naval Rifles. The Pattern 1858 Naval Rifle was in many respects similar to the standard P-1856 rifle, but with a few minor cosmetic differences and one major performance difference. The P-1858 was a brass mounted rifle, instead of iron mounted, and had the rear sling swivel attached to the front bow of the triggerguard instead of being screwed into the toe of the stock. The P-1858 retained the 1,100-yard rear sight and 33” barrel of the P-1856 rifles, but the barrel was much heavier and was rifled with 5 grooves instead of 3. The heavier barrel and improved rifling pattern made the P-1858 rifles more accurate than the P-1856. The heavier barrel also dissipated heat more effectively, resulting in less change to the point of aim / point of impact after repeated firings. As previously noted, the P-1858 Naval Rifle was designed to accept a cutlass bayonet instead of the standard saber bayonet. Orders by Caleb Huse for the Pattern 1858 Naval Rifle appear to be limited to about 700 guns, and these can be pinned down to two specific orders: one for 200 on June 11, 1861 and one for 500 on June 27, 1861. Huse’s order to Sinclair, Hamilton & Co specified “Sea Service Rifles, New Pattern, same bayonet as short rifles.. This clearly indicates that Huse did not want to purchase the cutlass bayonets that the Naval Rifle was intended to accept. However, in late July or early August 1861, Commander James Bulloch (the overseas purchasing agent for the Confederate Navy) placed an additional order for 1,000 Naval Rifles, complete with the cutlass bayonets. Bulloch noted this purchase in a letter to the Confederate Secretary of the Navy S. R. Mallory, dated August 13, 1861. In Bulloch’s post-war memoir The Secret Service of the Confederate States in Europe he noted: “1,000 Short Rifles with Cutlass Bayonets and 1,000 rounds of ammunition per rifle were shipped aboard FINGAL that arrived 14 November, 1861 (Volume 1, p 112). The cargo of the FINGAL was delivered to the port of Savannah, GA. Today there are only 34 of the engraved, Confederate numbered cutlass bayonets known to exist, with the highest number known being 999. Of the Confederate numbered naval purchased Naval Rifles, only 19 are known to have survived.

This Confederate purchased P-1858 Naval Rifle & P-1859 Type II Cutlass Bayonet are a wonderful and rare combination to find available for sale. The gun is in about VERY GOOD+ to NEAR FINE condition. As previously noted, the gun bears the expected the J S / (ANCHOR) viewer’s mark and has the Confederate inventory number 561 engraved in the buttplate tang. The ramrod is also engraved with the matching inventory number 561. Today there are very few numbered Confederate guns that retain their original engraved number ramrods, and finding one is a very difficult task. Numbered rammers, when found for sale, often bring $1,000 on the open market, and increase the value of a gun by at least that much when they are encountered together. The toe of the stock is marked by the contractor that delivered the gun, in this case TIPPING & LAWDEN. Tipping & Lawden were listed as Gun & Pistol Makers, located at 40 Constitution Hill in Birmingham from 1837-1852, when they added space at 41 Constitution Hill. In 1860 they added additional space at 18 Buckingham Street, and remained in business until 1877. Tipping & Lawden manufactured Sharp’s pattern pepperboxes under license from Sharps during the mid-1800’s. They also produced Harding patent percussion revolvers for Deane & Son. In 1877 Tipping & Lawden was purchased by P Webley & Sons of Birmingham.

The rifle is clearly marked on the lock plate with the typical English (CROWN) to the rear of the hammer and 1861 / TOWER forward of the hammer. The interior of the lock is marked T&L (for Tipping & Lawden) over the mainspring and JG around the mainspring boss. This is likely the mark of Birmingham gunlock maker J Granger, who worked at 60 Vyse Street from 1859-1865. The lock is marked with the file slash mating mark / / on the edge of the plate, and is additionally marked with a P on the interior surface. This same P is stamped on the inside neck of the hammer. The lock functions perfectly when it is removed from the stock and is still very crisp. When the lock is installed in the stock the half cock notch will not engage. This appears to be a problem of geometry, as the hammer nose contacts the cone (nipple) at about the same place on the tumbler as the half cock notch. I believe that the hammer is a period replacement, and that is why the geometry of the hammer to the cone and their relationship to the tumbler is slightly off. The mating code “P” on both the hammer and in the lock indicates to me that this was an arsenal repair. The Confederacy imported thousands of spare parts for Enfield arms during the course of the war, especially during the last 18 months. Several cases of gun fittings entered the port of Wilmington, NC during the summer of 1864 alone, along with at least 500 spare 39” Enfield ramrods, and several cases of armorers’ materials. The Payne Papers specifically note two shipments of Spare Cocks (hammers) to Major J.T. Trezevant in Columbia, SC on December 22, 1864. One shipment included 360 hammers and the other shipment included 210. Many other hammers were likely shipped to other Confederate ordnance depots throughout the south to repair damaged arms. The lock has a mottled gray-brown patina, which shows light traces of the original case hardening. The hammer has a patina that matches the lock perfectly. The barrel of the rifle is clearly marked with typical Birmingham commercial proof and view marks, as well as a pair of 25 gauge marks, indicating .577 caliber. The bottom of the barrel is marked 66 at the breech, and the breech plug bears the same mating number. The barrel is marked with the initials T & L (Tipping & Lawden), W.D. (William Deakin), and with the name DEAKIN. The gun barrel-making firm of William Deakin was established in 1807 and became William Deakin & Sons in 1849. During the Civil War they operated at Hazewell Mills, King’s Norton, moving there in 1849 and remaining there through 1869, when the firm went out of business. The barrel also bears a handful of other small marks and initials, as well as the mating code 2, to mate with the 2 slashes found on the edge of the lock and in the ramrod channel of the stock. The barrel is mostly smooth, with some light pitting present around the breech and bolster area, and only some small patches of minor peppering and pinpricking scattered along the balance of its length. The exterior surface of the barrel has faded to a plum brown color, with some patches of what appears to be some old, touched-up plum brown finish. The bottom of the barrel retains traces of the original bluing, mixed with the plum brown patina and the same patches of added brown finish. The bore of the rifle retains the original and correct pattern 5-groove rifling, and rates about GOOD. The rifling remains clear and distinct, but the bore is dirty and shows moderate pitting along its entire length, with a couple of patches of more serious pitting near the muzzle. The gun retains its original and correct 1,100-yard rear sight, as well as the original iron front sight blade. The original bayonet lug, which accepts the Pattern 1859 Type II Cutlass Bayonet, is in place on the barrel, near the muzzle. The gun is missing both of its sling swivels, and both of the screw protecting doughnuts on the end of the barrel band tension screws. The upper barrel band is marked Preston, a Manchester based bayonet maker who also manufactured small work (barrel bands, screws, etc) and ramrods for the gun trade. The upper band is slightly loose, but this appears to be the result of minor stock shrinkage. As previously noted, the rifle does retain its original ramrod, which is full-length and has the engraved number 561, which matches the gun. The rod retains the original threads on its end. The brass furniture has a medium golden patina that is quite attractive. The stock of the rifle rates about VERY GOOD+ to NEAR FINE as well. The stock is full-length with no breaks or repairs. The letter "A" is neatly carved into the wrist of the stock in a period hand. The meaning is unknown, but could possibly be the initial of the man who carried the gun. The stock does show the usual bumps, dings and impact marks from actual use and service. The stock does exhibit some minor shrinkage in the forend and retains little of its original finish. There is a narrow scrape from the rear of the obverse buttstock that extends about halfway to the wrist, which also appears to have a very minor (and very tight) surface grain crack associated with it. The rifle is accompanied by an original, Confederate imported Pattern 1859 Type II Cutlass Bayonet, which has the engraved import number 562 on the reverse side of the iron pommel mount. The number is clearly engraved by the same hand as the one on the buttplate, and has the same odd spacing between the “5” and the rest of the numbers. The bayonet is in about VERY GOOD+ to NEAR FINE condition as well, and matches the rifle perfectly. The bayonet fits the rifle very well and locks into place securely. The locking mechanism of the bayonet functions perfectly. The blade of the bayonet is full-length and has a dark gray patina, mixed with some patches of lighter gray and some patches of darker age discoloration. The blade is mostly smooth, with scattered light peppering along most of its length, which becomes light pitting closer to the point. There are a few minor “flea bites’ of metal missing from both the cutting edge and the spine of the bayonet (mostly near the tip), which are pictured below. They are very minor and do not detract from display in any way. The sheet metal basket guard of the cutlass retains about 10%-20% of its original black japanning, mixed with a lightly oxidized patina and some patches of moderate age staining. The guard is mostly free of dents and shows only the usual minor dings from carry and use. The hilt of the cutlass retains strong traces of the original black japanning, mixed with the same oxidized patina that is present on the guard. The metal shows some light pitting on the pommel cap as well. The pressed leather grips are in FINE condition, and retain crisply embossed checkering, with only some minor surface smoothing and showing very little of the typical shrinkage.

Overall this is simply a fantastic example of a scarce Confederate Naval contract P-1858 Naval Rifle complete with the cutlass bayonet. Rarely are CS numbered Enfields found for sale with matching ramrods, and obtaining a rifle with a bayonet that is only 1 number off from the gun is all but unheard of. This would be the perfect centerpiece for any Confederate Naval collection or any collection of Confederate imported Enfield arms. Other than the missing swivels, the gun and bayonet are 100% complete, correct and original. It is very unlikely that a package like this will be available for sale again anytime soon, and I am 100% confident that you will be absolutely thrilled when you display this rifle and bayonet.

SOLD

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Tags: CS, Imported, P, 1858, Naval, Rifle, JS, Anchor, Engraved, , With, d, Cutlass, Bayonet