RARE Antique RUSSIAN Contract COLT ALTERATION U.S. SPRINGFIELD M1816 Musket CRIMEAN WAR 1854 Percussion DRUM BOLSTER Conversion

Product Description

RARE Antique RUSSIAN Contract COLT ALTERATION U.S. SPRINGFIELD M1816 Musket

CRIMEAN WAR 1854 Percussion DRUM BOLSTER Conversion

Here we present a Very Rare antique Crimean War Era Imperial Russian Contract of a Colt Drum “Bolster” Alteration of a U.S. Springfield Model 1816 Rifled Musket, originally manufactured in Springfield, Massachusetts circa the 1820s.

These muskets were altered under contract for the Imperial Russian Government by Colt for use in the Crimean War. The alteration included rifling and sighting the guns, conversion to percussion from flintlock utilizing Colt’s Patented bolster, and a removal of the original lock markings and an 1854 date being stamped on the lock plate and the barrel. According to George Moller’s book American Military Shoulder Arms Volume III page 102, “Colt was to deliver these on April 28,1856, but missed the deadline and the contract was cancelled. Colt now had 25,000 altered muskets for sale and zero market. They reached out to Turkey, Schulyer, Hartley and Graham, and the Italians”. In January of 1860 Colt sent 20 samples of the muskets to Giuseppe Albinola, an exiled Italian businessman in New York who was also working as an agent for Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi. It is not clear if this contact was made through Schuyler, Hartley & Graham, but at least one resource claims that Colt managed to sell 23,500 of the Russian contract muskets to Garibaldi. Other sources suggest that it is not clear what happened to the guns, but that some may have been sold to various militia companies in America. Moller also states that “there is some evidence that some may have been purchased by the state of Rhode Island.”

According to some reference works: “they are probably one of the scarcest of all Colt associated firearms, and are harder to find than the coveted Colt Patterson and Colt Walker handguns.” In fact Howard Madaus, the late author, arms historian and former curator of the Cody Firearms Museum noted in his book The Warner’s Guide to American Longarms that the Colt Russian contract alteration muskets are “exceedingly rare”, and he defines that to mean “fewer than 10 are known to survive”.

The overall condition is good. The action is strong. The bore is dim with visible rifling. The rear sight spring is absent. The stock has a small repair to the left of the barrel tang and behind the foremost barrel band spring on the right. Otherwise, solid. Many inspection marks are visible throughout. This gun is the utmost of scarce Colt guns.

Own the original! This is a legitimate antique and not a reproduction.

Barrel is 42 inches.

Caliber: .69 Percussion Conversion

Overall condition as seen in photos.

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$3500
#240256