Love the sight




  Note the split wood







  It looks like this under all bands

The parts and machinery taken at Harper’s Ferry in April of 1861 were transported to Richmond, Virginia and set up in the old Virginia Armory. The state of Virginia transferred the armory to the Confederate Government in August, 1861 and from that time forward the facility was known as the Richmond Armory. The Richmond Armory was by far the most prolific maker of arms for the Confederacy. The rifles and rifle muskets made at the Richmond Armory are the most widely recognized and sought after long arms of the Confederate era.

This is a pretty good Richmond Rifled Musket. It is dated 1863, has original wood, two of the bands are clearly Richmond, one may or may not be, but the extreme ghost on the barrel shows that it’s always been there. It has the correct, original brass butt plate and the iron Richmond nose cap, which would not normally be expected on a ’63 dated gun. I can’t get the custom brass rear sight off to check the cutout, but the breech has the Richmond, "broken P” proof stamp. It still has unusually strong rifling left in the bore. The barrel exterior metal is in great shape, smooth and has a deep original patina. Even the original nipple is in very good condition. There is very light pitting around the nipple, but it is clear that its owner took really good care of the gun. The ramrod is period, but it is not a Richmond product. The original sling swivels remain. All in all, a much better than average Richmond Armory Rifled Musket.

The stock still has its original finish and is in nice condition. The are minor dings and scratches, but the only real damage is on the underside in front of the trigger guard where a little over an inch of the end of the ramrod channel split out.

The stock has H M and a five pointed star neatly carved into the left stock face; TK is stamped into the comb with a relatively modern font. Most intriguing is the 3.5 by 1.6 inch, silver plated brass plaque, inlet into the right stock face which has been hand engraved with one inch tall script letter that read F.C.P.

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