AUSTRIAN M1851 CARBINE: USED BY BOTH SIDES IN THE CIVIL WAR

$1,250.00

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Item Code: 490-7046

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These short-barrel, large bore, rifled .71 caliber Austrian carbines were imported by both sides in the Civil War. Ten thousand are known to have been acquired by the U.S. in late 1861 are likely those issued to Missouri Militia Cavalry and in the Department of Kansas to units such as the 2nd Kansas Cavalry. Identified Confederate examples exist from 2nd Virginia Cavalry, a member of Quantrill’s raiders, as well as one marked with a North Carolina NC and a star, and several with “IC” view marks associated with Isaac Curtis in the employ of S. Isaacs & Campell, well-known suppliers of arms to the Confederacy, which may be among the 528 captured on the blockade runner “Nikolai I” or successfully brought in by other agents.  The most current literature on them we find is Schwalm and Hofmann, European Arms in the CW, which draws heavily on a Pritchard and Prince article in NST (2011) 35.4.

These carbines had been erroneously designated the Model 1842 in early U.S. publications, but are properly the Model 1851. Initially manufactured with the Augustin “pill” or “tube” lock priming system, these were withdrawn from service starting in 1854 and seem to have been converted to more conventional percussion locks using two different forms of alteration, noticeable in the configuration of the hammer and bolster, when they entered the commercial arms market. Some feel that one form was an interim modification by the Austrian army, but Pritchard and Prince feel that both were done after the arms left government hands, one by a German source, likely in Hamburg, and as shown on this one, with a new bolster screwed on, called by them the Type-1, and the other using a new hammer, but less elegant brazed bolster they term the Type-2. These carbines were originally made without stock-mounted ramrods, the rammer being carried separately. This is one of those altered to take a ramrod, something found on both types, but not all of both types, leading Pritchard and Prince to posit the alteration was done in Belgium before shipment to the U.S. Various replacement hammers are noted. This one has the original bulbous style hammer. Pritchard and Prince posit that replacement hammers are more likely to indicate Confederate used arms, with Federal sources less likely to take extra measures to keep these arms in the field. We note an April 1862 letter from Gen. J.W. Denver, HQ District of Kansas, noting the problem with broken hammers, but stating they will be repaired as fast as possible, though he does ask that if better arms are available, they be issued at once, so we are not certain that a replacement hammer is an absolute indicator of Confederate use.

This one is complete with the ramrod and two sling rings mounted on the iron bar on the left. The lockplate shows the Austrian eagle stamped on its rear and the barrel shows the partially rubbed maker’s stamp of Elise Dojac, the widow of arms maker Josef Dojac, who continued to run their business in Vienna and Wilhelmsburg after his death in 1826. The lockplate is dated 1853, omitting the first digit in the usual Austrian fashion. A European arms discussion board indicates her name appears on various arms from this period. We see various small numbers that are likely assembly marks, but also an engraved “1/9” that is probably a unit fractional mark indicating company and regiment or soldier and company. The metal is smooth overall and a thin brown or caramel in color. The rifling is sharp and distinct. The mechanics good. The wood has a nice, warm brown town, though with numerous bumps, scratches, and shallow divots, indicating rough handling and use, though the only chip we see is a glue-repaired section at the bottom rear of the lockplate.

The NST article includes a great photo of two Union cavalrymen armed with these carbines (see also Military Images 2017,) though of the type without the stock mounted ramrod. They seem to have been issued with standard .69 caliber ammunition, which proved too small and were the subject of complaint, though the extra powder apparently used in the American rounds over the Austrian, may have provided a rather good kick.

This would be a good addition to a Civil War arms or cavalry collection, whether northern or southern.  [sr][ph:L]

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