1863 Richmond Va. Carbine & Linen Sling

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Summers almost over which is a bummer but I’ve been busy buying lots of new Southern Weapons for my arsenal. I haven’t been written much lately since I’ve been so busy at work. It’s a necessary evil (work that is) if I want to continue collecting and growing my weapons collection.

Just some of my new pieces include 1863 Richmond long rifle that I purchased from William Adams at the Gettysburg Civil War show back in June, E.P. Bond Enfield with the JS & anchor cartouche and hand engraved inventory # 8199 on the butt plate and 1864 Richmond Virginia Carbine out of a collection from Georgia.

But the Weapon I’ll write about today is the 1863 Richmond Carbine, I purchased this weapon from the good people at Lodgewood Mfg. I believe the carbine was on consignment and while surfing their web site I stumbled upon it, immediately I called David and negotiated a price.

The carbine is in pretty good shape especially for the price I paid. The only replacement parts is the front barrel band and the ram rod, but you can tell the ram rod has been with the weapon for a very long time and is hand made with many forging flaws throughout, oh and its missing the rear sight which is not uncommon for Richmond carbines everything else on the weapon is correct.

The wood stock is complete and has a great aged/blackened color to it, the brass tip towards the muzzle is correct with the extra thickness on the bottom to hold the ram rod. The stock has the Maynard Primer cut out under the lock plate so we know this was made with one of the condemned rifle stocks confiscated when the Harpers Ferry Arsenal was raided back in April 1861.

All the metal on the carbine except for the lock plate has a sweetened chocolate color to it, I’m thinking that this was probably a wall hanger at one time and someone polished the lock plate to make it look pretty (bummer) but at least they didn’t polish the whole carbine. The front pinched sight has been filed down a bit and the butt plate is metal with no U.S. stamp on it.

This weapon has the rear sling swivel that screws into the stock behind the trigger guard generally lost on these carbines. A month or two after I purchased this carbine, Brian Akins from “Rebel Relics” had a confederate linen sling for sale on his web site, so here I go again I call Brian a negotiate a price for the sling.

I wasn’t certain which weapon I would place my new sling on but it seemed as though it was meant for this 1863 Richmond carbine.

So there you have it another story told and another weapon for the Civil War Arsenal. My collection of Richmond rifles is growing quickly, if you have a Richmond rifle, short rifle or carbine that you’d like to sell please contact me at civilwararsenal@yahoo.com Attn: Gene West

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the photos.

2 thoughts on “1863 Richmond Va. Carbine & Linen Sling”

  1. The Carbine 36.5 inches long from the muzzle to the butt plate and the barrel is 21 inches.
    Again let me say I don’t think this is an actual weapon, but could it not be a old toy that may have been available in the U.K. Following the war?

    Reply ↓

    • Hi Gene,

      Thank you for all your help on this weapon, got me thinking what to do with it. Its a nice gun to hold ,but not my area of interest. obviously disappointed that it’s not what it purports to be but we all learn by our mistakes.I really do appreciate the time you have taken to help and wish you all the best in your future collecting.

      Kind regards

      Dennis

      —-Original message—-
      From : genx1969@yahoo.com
      Date : 04/07/2015 – 18:03 (GMTST)
      To : delden@btinternet.com
      Subject : Fwd: British Pattern 1856 Calvary Carbine, Toy?

      Dennis, I received this response from the leading authority on imported American Civil War Weapons. Thought you would be interested in what he had to say.

      Gene

      Sent from my iPad

      Begin forwarded message:

      From: sales-CHA
      Date: July 4, 2015 at 7:28:27 AM PDT
      To: Gene West
      Subject: Re: British Pattern 1856 Calvary Carbine, Toy?

      Gene,

      Sorry for the delay in responding. I was out of town for over a week and I’ve been swamped since I returned.

      It is certainly an odd gun, with the markings being the oddest.

      It appears to be a real P-1856 type cavalry carbine, but the version made for native troop use in India. I’ll bet it is about .62-.63 caliber smoothbore. The fixed post rear sight is typical of those guns. The presence of Baddley patent barre bands suggests it was made post 1863 or so.

      In my opinion it has spurious lock marks, circa 1960-65. During that time frame a large number of real English antique military items were imported into the US with spurious southern marks, ranging from fake “CS” or similar to the names of Richmond retailers. I just saw an iron frame London Colt Navy the other day, in well worn condition, with two Richmond retailer marks on it, one of which was definitely spurious and the other certainly questionable. That was another example of the 1960s era items that were being sent here to capitalize on the Civil War craze of the centennial.

      I can’t speak to the odd buttplate configuration, but I wonder if the butt was shortened at some point in time, rendering the butt plate the wrong size? Very odd to say the least.

      I think the item has limited value, more as a curiosity than a collectible arm.

      I hope this is helpful.

      Best Regards,

      Tim Prince
      College Hill Arsenal Civil War Antiques
      PO Box 178204
      Nashville, TN 37217
      615-972-2418
      http://www.collegehillarsenal.com

      On 6/29/15 12:45 PM, Gene West wrote:
      Through my we site (www.civilwararsenal.com) I was recently contacted by a gentlemen from the U.K. about a weapon he purchased with a collection of toys. I do not think or believe this is a actual weapon, it’s my opinion it’s a toy however it appears to be well assembled.

      Knowing you are the leading expert of Imported weapons from the CW, I thought you may be able to shed some light on this example. It doesn’t appear pitted by the nipple and hammer area, a portion of the markings on the lock plate are under the hammer, the C.S. Armory ( spelt Armoury ) on the stock, and the butt plate is two pieces. All this adds up to being weird and not real.

      The Carbine 36.5 inches long from the muzzle to the butt plate and the barrel is 21 inches.
      Again let me say I don’t think this is an actual weapon, but could it not be a old toy that may have been available in the U.K. Following the war?

      I know your busy doing CW shows, writing as well as just living your life, but any thoughts you may have would be greatly appreciated.

      Sincerely, Gene West

      Sent from my iPad

      Reply ↓

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