Description
The Joslyn Rifle, namesake of its designer Benjamin Franklin Joslyn, is an American Civil War breech loading rifle that was manufactured in Stonington, Connecticut and later at the Springfield, Massachusetts armory . The Joslyn rifle was the first breech loading metallic cartridge rifle manufactured at a U.S. national armory, chambered for the .56-.52 Spencer metallic cartridge, and 3,007 were assembled in January to June of 1865 utilizing breech units supplied by the Joslyn Firearms Company.
This weapon was altered at some point in time to use a standard US .12 gauge shotgun shell, possibly by Bannerman of New York. Many of the rifles were shipped overseas after the Civil War and chambered in a variety of calibers. While the carbines are plentiful, the rifles are not! This is a functional and interesting adaptation of a Civil War weapon that was repurposed for civilian use in the latter 19th century.
