Deceptive Marking

The mark “Tower” on an Enfield-type arm was apparently used more or less to deceive Northern purchasers as well as those of the South. It apears handstamped, without fixed location, on the locks forward of the hammer. The date may be either above or below the mark or, indeed, on some other part of the lock entirely. So far as can be determined, several of the Birmingham Gun Trade used “Tower” locks promiscuously on rifles and rifle muskets which they assembled for export. The export “Enfield” generally can be told from those made for the British Government, by the absence of the Broad Arrow mark on lockplate and barrel breech. Those barrels which bear the provisional (Fig. 10), the number 25 for gauge mark, then the definitive view mark (Fig. 11), another 25, and the definitive proof mark (Fig. 12), all Birming-

Bullet held wood plug supposed to be driven forward by force of explosion to expand lead into rifling, but later simple cavity was found to work as well. ‘Tail” was folded over in rolling cartridge, later torn off with teeth to pour powder into bore

Bullet end of loaded round was dipped in hot wax mixture of mutton tallow and beeswax as lubricant; the paper acted as patching.

Enfield cartridge’s powder was held in smaller bag inside larger one. Bullet held wood plug supposed to be driven forward by force of explosion to expand lead into rifling, but later simple cavity was found to work as well. ‘Tail” was folded over in rolling cartridge, later torn off with teeth to pour powder into bore. Bullet end of loaded round was dipped in hot wax mixture of mutton tallow and beeswax as lubricant; the paper acted as patching.

ham Gun Barrel Proof House marks, may be assumed to be commercially exported rifles made for sale abroad. The presence of such barrels on Enfield arms found in the United States which have “country origins,” such as many of the rustier ones that turn up in the Middle West, may be assumed to be United States or Confederate Enfields, regardless of makers marks, with some exceptions.
A Birmingham short rifle seems to fall into this class of arm. Marked “TOWER” beneath “1861” it has proofs as above. The barrel maker was Beasley & Son. Inside, the lock maker’s mark arcs about the boss for retaining the mainspring fixed leaf: spittle & bros. The lock, inside, above the fixed leaf and upside down, is stamped with the same small w & sometimes found on other small parts, such as sight bases. The actual fitter-up, dg, marked stock between side nails, lock above fixed leaf, and barrel underside. Barrel and breech screw both are marked 2 but the barrel bayonet lug is boldly stamped 11. The ramrod groove bears the small stamps of workmen and stock maker, but they are unclear.

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CHAPTER 17 The Starr Rises

From the catalog of Wallis and Wallis, British gun auctioneers ( 1962 ) at Lewes in Sussex, we read of the sale of a Starr revolver: Lot 1060 ... A 6 shot .44 Starr SA Army Perc Rev 14", brl 8", No. 51594, the top strap bearing old engraving Col. Colt Address New York, Good Condition but action As Found & frame screw not orig . Eben T. Starr of Yonkers, New York, might not have smiled at this latter day whimsey. Marking his re volver with the name of the man he dared challenge by launching a new revolving pistol business in 1858 was to him not funny. Though the modern gun bug who fraudulently marked this in the hope someone would bite on it as a hitherto unknown Colt double action revolver we trust was unsuccessful in his piracy, per haps the buyer at the Wallis and Wallis auction cherishes his purchase for what it is: one of the best and most modem revolvers of the Civil War era. Though complex inside at first glance, its parts are well thought out and reveal Star...

CHAPTER 6 Rifle Muskets: Civil War Scandals

You place me in a most embarrassing position, Mr. Secretary. How is that, Mr. Wilkeson? the gaunt-faced Penn sylvanian queried, the lines of his expression amplified by the fatigue and, somewhat, disappointment with which he laid down his role as Secretary of War for Mr. Lincoln. Because, Mr. Cameron, the newspaperman re sponded, your contract for rifle muskets with the Eagle Manufacturing Company of Mansfield, Connecticut is for only 25,000 arms, and my friends there, whom I induced to engage in this business in expectation of your issuing a further order, as your assistant Mr. Scott assured me you would, will be sorely embarrassed in their operations on this small amount. Indeed this is bad news to me, Mr. Wilkeson, War Secretary Simon Cameron sympathetically observed, as he stuffed papers from his desk drawer into a large portfolio, scanning them briefly, consigning some to the waste basket. But as you can see, I am leaving office today; I believe Mister Stanton, who repla...

French and Belgian Arms

French and Belgian materiel was considered next best to the Enfields, though the types and calibers were more varied than either Enfield or Austrian Lorenz arms. Basic pattern for the best rifles of both France and Belgium was the “carabine” of Captain Minie. Minie’s designs had exerted profound changes in the world’s small arms armament. That change was ably summed up by lexicographer Thomas Wilhelm after the War when he prepared his military dictionary. Said Wilhelm, “Minie Rifle. A species of fire-arm, invented by Capt. Minie, from whom it receives its name. It is certain in aim, and fatal in its results at 800 yards.” The claim was, if anything, inferior to the real capability of the Minie rifle. France in 1861 possessed a surplus of many arms. During the 1840 ’s the temporary procurement of guns designed by Thouvenin, Pontchara, Minie, and others kept the arsenals busy and the soldiers active testing them. Then came the Crimean War and France’s involvement on the side of Gr...

Civil War Guns

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