shortened long arms

[malachi]

While I have a copy of Murphy's book on carbines and musketoons, I still don't have a feel for how common a practice it was to shorten damaged muskets/rifles for cavalry use. Can any of you speak to the prevalence of such guns in the ranks? I know that arsenals at Macon and in Virginia shortened some, but we're there others doing so as well, and if so did the practice last the entire war?
Any help would be appreciated.
Greg Tucker

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: shortened long arms

Hallo!

All in all, "representive" yes. Common, not very.

Unfortunately I am in the middle of house remodeling and my books are in storage for a while.

In (really) brief, and general.. much of the carbine or musketoon length arms were more of an early War thing based upon surplus Federal parts that could be augmented into complete arms such as Richmond did with the .69's.
The other side of the coin is that like the Federal system, the Confederacy set up armories/arsenals of repair as well as those of manufacture. Captured and battlefield pick-ups that were good enough for repairs or just good enough for parts were recycled. As more longarms came into greater production or importation, , or even breech loaders replacing muzzleloaders in numbers, reduced availability of more obsolete or less desirable types such as .69's.
As the CSA started to lose more battles, as well as entrench, battlefield stocks went down a bit as well.

It is an opinion, or bias of mine, but I also think that some of the "popularity" of story of Confederate rifle-musket barrels with flawed upper ends being cut-down for carbines/musketoons or "artillery rifles" while true has grown in the romance over the years. And maybe even the numbers of recycled barrels who muzzle ends had split or burst in use.

Although it disappeared in the remodeling of the old Gettysburg Visitors Center, they used to have a rifle-musket on display that had been damage by being run over by artillery which cracked the forestock and bent the barrel.

:)

Curt

[Jimmayo]

Re: shortened long arms




Quick and dirty way is just cut. This one was used by William Lunsford of the 9th Va. Cav. very late in the war. No way to know if it was damaged or not. When it was cut down someone tried to put threads on the ramrod.

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: shortened long arms

Hallo!

The major difference between a longarm and a sawed-off is....

intent and a hacksaw.

:) :) :)

Curt

[MuleyGil]

Re: shortened long arms

In my limited experience, many shortened Springfield rifle muskets were created post war for the numerous military schools that became popular. 3 band Sprindfields were cut to about 32"-33" and can have mixed parts. Look at an old Bannerman's catalog.

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: shortened long arms

Hallo!

Yes. Giving rise to the (so-called) "artillery musket" misnomer.

Provenance or documentation can play a major part in this as there was a large post War market for surplus. At the high end, there were professional type shortenings done for military schools to make "cadet muskets." In the middle were sporterized "poor man or farmer's "shotguns" cut-down or made half-stock. And at the low end, what a saw could do to a stock and barrel in a few minutes whether by a seller or dealer fifty years later wanting make a Confederate cavalry piece or a Plains Indians cut-down.

And "sporterizing" (poor man/farmer's shotgun)is not just a post CW concept. There is the one Timothy O' Sullivan used when he photographed John Burns in Gettysburg.



Curt