Description
This is a just plain WOW condition rifle and one of the finest I have seen in decades. The blue finish is 85%+ intact and the stock is simply fantastic! The bore is fine and there are no replaced parts. It only lacks the small ring assembly for the nipple protector. The sabre bayonet stud is intact and numbered (the bayonet would share the number). This weapon, commonly called the P56 Army rifle, is not a commonly encountered Enfield. Most I have seen over the many decades are the Navy pattern (brass furniture). Mechanically it is crisp and tight. This weapon also has a small silver touch mark inlayed in the bottom of the stock which is likely a family crest—definitely deserving of more research. If you want a BEAUTIFUL one, you have found it!
This weapon almost certainly came to the South early in the Civil War as very few are known to have been purchased by the Union agents until 1861, and most of those were of the brass mounted P56 Navy type. This weapon surfaced at an estate in the low country of South Carolina with the only history of having been found behind an attic door of an antebellum home.
