Description
This is one of my favorite weapons of the US military due to the graceful lines and excellent balance. Manufactured at the armory in Harpers Ferry, Virginia, many of these weapons (dated 1860) are considered Confederate since many were in stock when the armory was captured by Virginia forces. It shows honest field use and wear and overall is very crisp and fully functional, exhibiting to missing or altered parts. It is the last of the pattern that retained a patch box in the stock, adding even more detail to a finely crafted weapon.
This weapon was designed to use either standard percussion ignition or the Maynard tape priming system which looked like the roll of caps you used in your pistol as a kid (showing my age, lol). These weapons were also manufactured at the National armory in Springfield, Massachusetts.
The pattern was superceded by the US Model 1861 which did NOT utilize the tape primer system. Only 12,158 were made at Harpers Ferry compared to 47,115 made at Springfield.
