Description
Very nice overall, this example really only has one flaw…someone broke the breech clean out screw at some point in time (doesn’t affect function of weapon). The action and bore is exceptional as are the inspector marks at the wrist.
The Smith Carbine is a .50 caliber breech-loading black powder percussion rifle patented by Gilbert Smith on June 23, 1857 and successfully completed the military trials of the late 1850s. It was used by various cavalry units during the American Civil War.
The Smith Carbine was unique in that it broke apart in the middle for loading and it used rubber and paper/brass foil cartridges which sealed the gases in the breech. The downside was that these rubber cartridges were sometimes difficult to remove from a hot breech.
The carbines were built by Massachusetts Arms Company of Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts; the American Machine Works in Springfield, Massachusetts; or the American Arms Company in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts. The name of the distributor for the manufacturer, Poultney & Trimble of Baltimore, Maryland, is often stamped on the carbine’s receivers.
