Interesting Colt 1863 Civil War Springfield Rifle

This is an interesting rifle seldom seen in the UK and just the sort of thing I like to offer and shoot myself as it has so many dimensions which appeal to the collector, shooter, and restorer.
The Springfield Model 1863 rifled musket is a .58 calibre rifled musket that fired a 1 ounce Minie bullet that was produced by the Springfield Armoury between 1863 and 1865.
The Model 1863 was only a minor improvement over the Springfield Model 1861. As such, it is sometimes classified as just a variant of the Model 1861. The Model 1861, with all of its variants, is assumed was the most commonly used long arm in the American Civil War, with over 700,000 manufactured. The Model 1863 also has the distinction of being the last muzzle loading long arm produced by the Springfield Armoury. In reality in excess of 900,000 Enfield P53 rifles were exported to the USA so this is debatable. If you have a P53 and you probably do if you are interested in this rifle, then this is our US Cousins direct counterpart to our standard long arm at this time and used in one of the most dreadful conflicts of modern times.
The Model 1863 was produced in two variants. The Type I eliminated the band springs and replaced the flat barrel bands with oval clamping bands. It also featured a new ramrod, a case-hardened lock, a new hammer, and a redesigned bolster (percussion chamber). Several of these modifications were based upon Colt's contract model 1861, known as the "Colt special". 273,265 Type I variants were manufactured in 1863. This is an excellent “Colt Special” dated stamped 1863 with Colts Hartford address on the lock. This is a shooters rifle and has a great bore with sharp rifling and an excellent lock mechanism and trigger let off. Springfield Armoury supervised the manufacturing and distribution of the Model 1861 muskets. In order to fulfil shortages, production was sub-contracted to a number of private manufacturers including Colt. The "Special" Model 1863 contract represented a transition from the Model 1861 design and incorporated many new features namely the contoured hammer, flat bolster and removal of band springs. Colt Fire Arms Manufacturing Co, Hartford, Connecticut produced approximately 70,000 muskets under this contract and this is one of those. Musket was designed as a single shot 58 cal. rifled muzzleloader, iron butt plate, contoured hammer, bolster is milled flat eliminating the clean out screw, leaf sight, three barrel bands are rounded with tightening screws . Round barrel length 40in.
The rifle was delivered “in the white” so if you find one blued its wrong. This particular rifle is interesting as the previous owner had two stocks, the original for display and a superb walnut replacement for occasional shooting. The rifle can be disassembled and assembled in minutes. So what we have here is an excellent looking Colt special which has all the cachet of the Colt name, a significant Civil War rifle which is in shootable condition (I am selling as an antique under Section 58(2) but if the purchaser wishes to add this to their FAC and proof it then that is their prerogative) The rifle has the original ramrod and the original “US” marked butt plate is fitted. Price includes overnight courier to your door. I always include appropriate research with my firearms.

Code: 50226