Description
Originally manufactured as a full length rifled musket in .69 caliber, this old weapon has seen at least two alterations in its lifetime! First, it is one of the few that were sent back to arsenals to be rifled and fitted with a long range M1855 type sight. Secondly, it was cut down to about a 34” barrel and completely remounted with the original furniture. There is speculation by some that muskets like these were altered to be issued to artillery units in the field, since the long original muskets could not easily be used by cannoneers. It is known that many were indeed crafted for this purpose circa 1862-64 in this manner.
Some researchers feel shortened weapons like this were issued mainly to cadets, as they could not handle the original length examples—and still others feel many were cut down for competition shooting in the North-South Skirmish groups of the 1950s and 1960s. At some point in time, the original M1855 long range sight was removed and a modified buckhorn type was added in its place—it appears to have been this way for a very, very long time. While there are no precise records on which of the weapons were altered or by whom, I doubt that much effort would have been put in reconstructing this particular weapon if not intended for field use.
