Now here is a rare piece. Not only is this musket uncommon by virtue of the fact that it is a Confederate-built CS Richmond, but historical records also indicate this musket as being one of the 318 muskets that were altered to smooth bore by the Confederates as a result of having damaged bores.
According to author Paul Davies in his book CS Armory Richmond, when the Richmond arsenal was captured at the end of the war, its weapons were taken and stored at Springfield. These weapons sat in storage for five years until they were offered to the public in September, 1870. Springfield's "Catalogue of Condemned Ordnance" was the largest sale of Richmond muskets ever to be offered at one time. The catalogue included various grades of Richmond muskets and ranked them in grades of first, second, and third quality. Among the catalogue's listings are 318 Richmond muskets "altered to smooth bore". Many of these smoothbored Richmonds were unusual in that not only were they were shortened and bored out to .61 caliber, but their stocks were also altered as well; perhaps in an effort to reduce weight for cavalry or mounted infantry use. The stock alteration slimmed the stock and included the smoothing down of the lock panels; similar to the way M1873 trapdoor muskets would be made almost a decade later. Several of these unusually modified muskets continue to exist today and are also pictured in Davies' book.
This particular musket appear to be one of the "altered to smoothbore" guns found at the Richmond Arsenal when it was captured in 1865. Its lock panels are identical to the ones pictured in Davies book and the clean execution of the lock panel smoothing certainly leads credence to the fact that it was done carefully and deliberately; rather than being a consequence of postwar refinishing. While the forestock and barrel were shortened, the rest of the stock is in great shape with no major damaging other than a piece of wood missing from the rear lock bolt and tang area.
The lock has a great, unmolested patina and the stamps are still legible. The lock is dated 1863, like the altered smoothbores listed in Davies' book. The hammer holds solid on both half and full cock. The barrel is missing both front and rear sights and the bore is dark.
The furniture is all original and appropriate for a Richmond, including the rear barrel band, which features a hand-stamped "U"; a feature unique to the Richmond Armory.
