Now this is a piece of Civil War history with such a cool back story, it will make even your most historically-apathetic friends sit up and pay attention. This M1843 is one of five thousand Hall carbines that was infamously purchased from the Federal government by famous American financier JP Morgan and then sold back to the government at a tremendously inflated price. This scandal became known as the "Hall Carbine Affair" and has become one of the most famous examples of a war profiteering in American history.
The scandal started in June of 1861 when Simon Stevens purchased 5,000 Hall carbines at a cost of $12.50 each. Stevens immediately negotiated the sale of the carbines to Field General John C. Fremont for a price of $22.00 each pending the rifles be re-bored to .58 caliber. Stevens obtained a loan from several bankers to finance the project; with JP Morgan being among the chief loan officers. While most of the smaller investors were paid off almost immediately, Morgan held the rifles as collateral an even submitted a bill to the Federal Government for $58,175 before releasing the finished guns.
During the slow delivery process of the re-bored guns to Fremont, a scandal had developed as it was soon discovered that Fremont had purchased the carbines without authorization and as a result had been grossly over-charged. The Secretary of War set up a House Investigating Committee to look into the matter. The Hall Carbine Affair, to this day, remains a blight on JP Morgan's reputation.
This particular M1843 is one of the "Fremont-altered" guns. It's .58 caliber barrel is in good shape with strong rifling with some rust and light pitting in the grooves. The block is dated 1851 and locks up tight against the receiver. The block has also been bored to .58, indicating and all-matching gun.
The stock is in nice shape with several "camp art" style carvings and some minor dents and dings that one would expect to find on a combat-used weapon. There is a small crack near the receiver on either side of the stock, but the cracks are purely cosmetic in nature and don't effect the structural integrity of the stock whatsoever. In fact, the cracks are so minimal, they are nearly invisible.
The hammer locks reliably on both half and full cock and all the furniture is original and matching.
