Maynard Civil War Carbine

Now this is a rarity in the UK! A 50 calibre Maynard capping breech loading carbine. Edward Maynard invented the tape primer system and was not only a prolific inventor but an acclaimed Dentist who introduced many dentistry techniques including the use of gold for fillings. Maynard's carbine was renowned as pre-eminent for fast loading and accuracy and was more or less the first metallic cartridge to use the expansion of the cartridge to seal the breech. The Cartridges were made of thick brass and reusable. Maynard claimed that the springy walls of his metallic cartridge expanded when fired to form a perfect gas seal at the breech. This solved the erstwhile problem of gas and flame leakage at the breech joint. Up to this time the main concern of metallic cartridges was mainly to expedite loading and making the charge waterproof, which was accomplished to a small degree. Evidently the most important application of the cartridge case had been overlooked. Although not the final word by any means, Maynard's metallic cartridge was simple, efficient and reloadable. During a series of tests conducted in 1859 some of these cases were reloaded and fired as many as 100 times and still were usable. Maynard's invention, one of his many cartridge patents, hastened the end of the percussion period!This carbine was used by both the Confederate forces and the Union. This is a superb example, the best I've seen outside of a Museum. Crisp action, mechanically sound with most original colour and excellent cartouches. Only fault which most won't see but I will point out is a very good arsenal repair on the butt which doesn't detract from the look of the gun as 90% of people would think it was the pattern of the wood. Maynard's guns were made to exacting tolerances and are of superb quality and greatly underestimated as his output was less than the most recognised makes.

Code: 50033