I used to be in a gunshop not too long ago and noticed a rifle-musket in a show case proper on the entrance of the shop. The proprietor inspired me take it out and look it over. It’s a Lamson, Goodnow & Yale Particular Mannequin 1861, lock dated 1864, .58 caliber, 40-inch barrel. About 9 and a half kilos. One in every of 50,000 produced by a agency in Windsor, Vermont, that most individuals have by no means heard of — however ought to have.
The Manufacturing unit on Mill Brook: Robbins & Lawrence and the Start of Precision Manufacturing
The LG&Y story begins with the constructing. The three-and-a-half-story brick armory on Mill Brook in Windsor, Vermont, was in-built 1846 by Samuel Robbins, Nicanor Kendall, and Richard Lawrence after they gained a authorities contract for 10,000 Mannequin 1841 “Mississippi” rifles.
What Robbins & Lawrence did there went previous filling a rifle contract. They developed specialised machine instruments, precision gauges, jigs, and fixtures that permit them produce firearms with actually interchangeable components — any part from one rifle match every other rifle of the identical mannequin with out hand becoming. That system — later known as the “American System of Manufacturing” — unfold to stitching machines, clocks, and ultimately cars.
In 1851, Robbins & Lawrence exhibited six Mannequin 1841 rifles on the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London. Guests might disassemble them, combine the components, and reassemble them into working rifles. The British authorities took discover and in 1854 contracted with Robbins & Lawrence for 150 machine instruments to equip the Royal Small Arms Manufacturing unit at Enfield Lock — the identical manufacturing unit that produced the Sample 1853 Enfield rifle-musket. That Enfield connection comes again later.
Robbins & Lawrence additionally took a subcontract for about 25,000 Sample 1853 Enfields for the British throughout the Crimean Battle. They overextended, delivered solely about 10,400, and declared chapter in October 1856.
The belongings went to public sale. Gun producers got here to Windsor and purchased equipment, tooling, and fabricated components for pennies on the greenback. Among the many patrons: Samuel Colt, and two males named Ebenezer G. Lamson and Abel F. Goodnow.
Lamson, Goodnow & Yale: The Males and the Firm
Ebenezer Lamson had manufacturing expertise. In his early twenties he co-founded a cutlery enterprise with household in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts — the Lamson & Goodnow Firm, which produced knives and cutlery and survived effectively into the trendy period. He was additionally a dedicated abolitionist.
In 1858, Lamson joined with Abel Goodnow and B. Buchanan Yale to purchase the bankrupt Robbins & Lawrence armory in Windsor. The brand new agency inherited the constructing, the equipment, the tooling, and the institutional data — together with all of the Enfield-pattern tools and experience.
When Accomplice weapons opened fireplace on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, Ebenezer Lamson moved quick. He traveled to Washington and secured authorities contracts for rifle-muskets. The agency obtained two contracts for 25,000 rifle-muskets every, dated July 11 and October 7, 1861 — 50,000 arms complete.
LG&Y began with about 100 staff and subcontracted for barrels and shares early on. At peak manufacturing they’d roughly 400 staff. In addition they constructed the machine instruments that different Northern arms factories wanted — supplying manufacturing tools to Colt, Remington, Sharps, the Windfall Instrument Firm, and others. LG&Y armed the Union twice: as soon as with their very own rifles and as soon as with the machines that constructed everybody else’s.
Deliveries started in September 1862 and continued via December 1864. At peak output, the manufacturing unit was producing almost 2,000 rifles monthly — roughly 300 to 1,000 per week relying on the interval. All 50,000 had been delivered on schedule.
What Makes a “Particular” Mannequin 1861
The usual U.S. Mannequin 1861 was the workhorse infantry arm of the Civil Battle. Made primarily at Springfield Armory, .58 caliber, percussion cap, 40-inch barrel. The Union produced about 700,000 throughout all producers. It was dependable, correct sufficient for the ways of the day, and easy to fabricate.
The “Particular Mannequin 1861” is a unique animal. From throughout the room it seems like a Springfield. Up shut, it’s a hybrid — outwardly Springfield, internally extra Enfield.
It begins with Samuel Colt. When Robbins & Lawrence went bankrupt, Colt purchased a load of their Enfield-pattern equipment at public sale. In June 1861, Colt’s superintendent Elisha Ok. Root went to Erskine S. Allin, the Grasp Armorer at Springfield, with a proposal: as a substitute of retooling to make actual Springfield copies, Colt would construct a rifle-musket that met Springfield’s exterior specs however used Enfield-derived internals and manufacturing strategies. The prevailing tooling made this way more environment friendly.
Allin agreed, and the “Particular Mannequin 1861” was born. The important thing variations from the usual Springfield Mannequin 1861 embrace:
The hammer. The Particular Mannequin makes use of a recurved, beveled “S”-shaped hammer as a substitute of the usual Springfield hammer. This design was later adopted for the U.S. Mannequin 1863 rifle-musket.
The barrel bands. Commonplace Springfield Mannequin 1861 rifles use stable barrel bands held in place by flat band springs. The Particular Mannequin makes use of cut up (clamping) barrel bands secured by screws — an Enfield-derived characteristic. This is among the quickest methods to determine a Particular Mannequin at a look.
The bolster and clean-out screw. The usual Springfield makes use of a bolster with a 90-degree gasoline channel that requires a clean-out screw for upkeep. Root’s design eradicated the clean-out screw completely by implementing a extra direct breech vent. The bolster itself sits greater on the breech than an ordinary Springfield.
The lock internals. Behind the lock plate, the Particular Mannequin runs Enfield-pattern lockwork. The lock plate itself is thinner than the Springfield model.
The rear sight. Root redesigned the rear sight with greater base partitions to guard the 100-yard and 300-yard sight blades when folded flat. He recessed the stress screw head to forestall harm, squared off the tops of the sight leaves, and deepened the notches for simpler adjustment and a clearer sight image. These enhancements impressed Allin sufficient that the Root-designed rear sight was adopted throughout all Mannequin 1861 manufacturing at Springfield beginning in July 1861.
A number of of those options had been adequate that Springfield Armory adopted them into the Mannequin 1863 after they redesigned the usual infantry arm.
The Three Particular Mannequin Contractors
Solely three contractors produced the Particular Mannequin 1861: Colt’s Patent Hearth Arms Manufacturing Firm of Hartford, Connecticut; Lamson, Goodnow & Yale of Windsor, Vermont; and the Amoskeag Manufacturing Firm of Manchester, New Hampshire. Between them, they delivered over 177,000 Particular Mannequin rifle-muskets to the U.S. Ordnance Division:
Colt produced roughly 100,005 between 1862 and 1864. LG&Y produced roughly 50,000 throughout the identical interval. Amoskeag produced roughly 27,001 between 1863 and 1865.
The connection between these three makers runs via the Robbins & Lawrence chapter. All three had entry to Enfield-pattern tooling and equipment from the public sale, giving them the power to provide the hybrid Particular Mannequin design effectively. Components had been interchangeable throughout all three producers and with the Colt-pattern musket — a direct results of the precision manufacturing requirements that Robbins & Lawrence had pioneered in that very same Windsor manufacturing unit a decade earlier.
Technical Specs
The LG&Y Particular Mannequin 1861, like all rifles within the Mannequin 1861 household, is a .58 caliber, single-shot, percussion-cap muzzleloader. Listed below are the numbers:
Caliber: .58Action: Percussion lock (caplock)Barrel size: 40 inches, rifled with three groovesOverall size: Roughly 56 inchesWeight: Roughly 9 to 9.5 poundsSights: Blade entrance sight; two-leaf folding rear sight (Root sample) graduated for 100, 300, and 500 yardsAmmunition: .58 caliber Minie ball, sometimes 500 grains over 60 grains of black powderMuzzle velocity: Roughly 950 ft per secondEffective vary: 200-400 yards; succesful hits on man-sized targets to 500 yardsRate of fireplace: 2-3 aimed rounds per minute in educated handsBayonet: Socket bayonet with triangular blade
A 500-grain lead slug at 950 fps does severe harm. The delicate lead deformed on influence and shattered bones reasonably than drilling clear holes, which is why Civil Battle surgeons carried out so many amputations. The weapons had outpaced each the ways and the medication.
Markings on a Lamson, Goodnow & Yale Rifle-Musket
LG&Y rifles carry distinctive markings that differentiate them from Colt and Amoskeag Particular Fashions. On this 1864-dated instance, the important thing markings are:
Lock plate: An eagle motif ahead of the hammer, with “L.G. & Y.” over “WINDSOR-Vt” stamped behind the hammer and under the bolster. The date seems on the lock plate as effectively.
Barrel: The highest flat of the barrel breech is stamped with the date of manufacture. The left flat carries U.S. proof marks: “V” (seen), “P” (proofed), and an eagle head — the usual authorities inspection marks indicating the barrel handed proof testing.
Buttplate tang: Stamped “US.”
Inventory: Inspector’s cartouche (stamped initials in an oblong field) on the left flat of the inventory, indicating the rifle handed remaining authorities inspection.
The standard management behind these markings was rigorous. The Ordnance Division required dozens of precision gauges to examine every rifle-musket’s parts. Authorities inspectors had been stationed at contract factories, and accomplished arms had been graded by match and end.
Within the Palms of Troopers
A rifle-musket dated 1864 was made throughout the hardest yr of the conflict. By then it was a grinding conflict of attrition. Grant was pushing Lee via the Overland Marketing campaign — the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Chilly Harbor, the siege of Petersburg. Sherman was chopping via Georgia. The armies consumed males and materials at a charge the Northern industrial base — together with the Windsor manufacturing unit — needed to maintain tempo with.
An LG&Y rifle produced in 1864 might have been issued to Union troops at any level throughout that yr or into 1865. The Mannequin 1861 and its Particular Mannequin variants had been standard-issue infantry arms. They had been carried at Petersburg, within the Shenandoah Valley, via the Carolinas Marketing campaign, and at Appomattox. A relic LG&Y rifle was recovered from the Chilly Harbor battlefield, putting at the very least one instance at one of many conflict’s most notorious engagements.
There is no such thing as a method to hint the person service historical past of this rifle. Army data of the period tracked males, not weapons. A rifle-musket issued to an infantry regiment may move via a number of palms as troopers had been killed, wounded, discharged, or transferred. However holding an 1864 LG&Y, you realize this: it was constructed to struggle within the remaining campaigns of the Civil Battle, and it virtually definitely did.
After the Battle: From Rifles to Machine Instruments
When the conflict resulted in April 1865, so did the arms contracts. In 1869, textile producer Russell Jones partnered with Ebenezer Lamson, and the agency turned Jones, Lamson & Firm. The main focus shifted to machine instruments — the identical type of precision tools that had been the manufacturing unit’s actual contribution all alongside.
In 1876, the equipment manufacturing department was individually included as Jones & Lamson Machine Firm. Below superintendent James Hartness, who arrived in 1889 and designed the flat turret lathe that revived the corporate’s fortunes, Jones & Lamson turned one of many premier machine software producers in the USA. The corporate ultimately relocated to close by Springfield, Vermont, however the legacy remained rooted in that brick constructing on Mill Brook.
Immediately, the unique Robbins & Lawrence / LG&Y armory constructing homes the American Precision Museum. In case you are ever in Windsor, Vermont, it’s price a cease.
Accumulating the LG&Y Particular Mannequin 1861
Civil Battle rifle-muskets are one of the energetic segments of the vintage arms market, and the Particular Mannequin 1861 occupies an attention-grabbing area of interest. It’s much less widespread than an ordinary Springfield Mannequin 1861 (which was produced in far higher numbers), however extra accessible than a few of the rarer contract arms. LG&Y produced 50,000 rifles — sufficient that examples seem repeatedly at public sale and thru sellers, however few sufficient that they command a premium over normal Springfields.
As of current years, anticipate to see LG&Y Particular Mannequin 1861 rifles within the $1,000 to $3,000 vary relying closely on situation. A tough however full instance with darkish patina and a worn bore may promote within the $1,000-$1,500 vary. A well-preserved instance with clear markings, robust mechanics, and an honest bore can push towards $2,000-$3,000 or past. Distinctive examples — unique vivid end, sharp markings, vivid bore — can deliver extra at main public sale homes like Rock Island or Morphy’s.
When evaluating an LG&Y rifle-musket, collectors search for:
Markings readability. The “L.G. & Y.” and “WINDSOR-Vt” markings on the lock plate, the date on the breech, and the V/P/eagle head proof marks needs to be legible. Clearer markings imply greater worth.
Appropriate components. All three barrel bands needs to be current, and they need to be the right cut up (screw-fastened) kind, not stable Springfield-pattern bands. The ramrod needs to be unique metal with a tulip-shaped head. The rear sight needs to be the right two-leaf Root sample. Alternative components scale back worth, significantly if they’re from an ordinary Springfield reasonably than a Particular Mannequin.
Bore situation. A vivid bore with seen rifling is uncommon in rifles which might be 160+ years outdated. Most will present darkish bores with faint rifling. A vivid bore provides actual worth.
Inventory situation. Authentic walnut shares with inspector’s cartouche intact, minimal cracks, and no repairs are most well-liked. Practically all surviving examples present dealing with marks, dings, and put on from army service — anticipated, not a defect.
Lock perform. The lock needs to be mechanically sound with a robust mainspring. A crisp half-cock and full-cock point out a mechanism that was well-made and has survived intact.
One vital be aware: all unique Civil Battle-era firearms manufactured earlier than 1899 are categorized as antiques beneath federal legislation and are exempt from the necessities of the Gun Management Act of 1968. They are often purchased, bought, and shipped with out an FFL (Federal Firearms License). State legal guidelines range, so test your native laws, however federally, these are antiques, not firearms.
Holding Historical past
This LG&Y shouldn’t be a museum piece. It’s a software constructed for conflict, and the boys who constructed it in Windsor had been a part of an industrial effort that mattered as a lot as something that occurred on the battlefield. The manufacturing custom they inherited from Robbins & Lawrence — precision, interchangeability, machine-driven manufacturing — was the North’s actual benefit.
Each inspection mark on the barrel represents a authorities inspector who gauged, measured, and authorized this particular weapon. The lock date places it in 1864. The cut up barrel bands and S-shaped hammer join it to Root’s Enfield-influenced design, which traces again via the Robbins & Lawrence Enfield contract to the Crystal Palace Exhibition in 1851. 9 and a half kilos of iron, metal, and walnut with a direct line to the delivery of American precision manufacturing. I like understanding precisely the place this one got here from.
The rifle featured on this article is offered on the market at Weapons Galore. Contact Dave at [email protected] or (254) 501-7147.
If this rifle caught your curiosity, listed here are the references price having:
United States Mannequin 1861 Rifle-Musket by James Whisker & Kevin Spiker — essentially the most immediately related reference. Covers all of the personal contractors who constructed the Mannequin 1861, together with LG&Y.Flayderman’s Information to Vintage American Firearms and Their Values (ninth Ed.) by Norm Flayderman — the collector’s bible. Over 4,000 individually priced vintage firearms.Civil Battle Firearms: Their Historic Background and Tactical Use by Joseph Bilby — goes past identification into how these weapons had been truly utilized in fight.Commonplace Catalog of Civil Battle Firearms by John Graf — combines historic context, identification, and pricing with a 1-to-5 rarity index.
For many who shoot copy muskets or accumulate Civil Battle-era arms:
Lee Precision .58 Cal Minie Ball Mildew (578-478-M) — forged your personal traditionally correct minie balls.CCI Musket Caps — the ignition supply for any percussion musket.Traditions Brass Musket Capper — holds and dispenses musket caps for simple loading.Real Dug .58 Cal Civil Battle Minie Ball — an precise battlefield-recovered minie ball. Good dialog piece subsequent to the true factor.
If you realize of any boards or websites that needs to be referenced on this itemizing, please tell us right here.
