My girlfriend was out antique shopping today and came across this rifle stamped Springfield and a date looks like 1864. The hammer and nipple area are not what I'm used to seeing. Is it straight up from the factory correct or some kind of conversion?
Thanks
An early Allin Conversion.
Was made by converting Civil War muskets to breechloaders at low cost.
Musket barrels were shortened at the breech and threaded to take the newly-developed trapdoor action.
The very first ones made were chambered for a .58 rimfire cartridge, but only a small number were ever made.
Soon after, the issued muzzleloading .58 caliber rifled barrels were removed from muskets, reamed out to smoothbore, and relatively thin .50 caliber rifled liners press-fitted and soldered in to convert the guns to .50-70 centerfire.
The finished product became an item of general issue, and was highly regarded as an effective service and hunting rifle for many years.
In 1873, the Army went to the same or similar guns in the smaller .45-70 caliber using all-new barrels, for reasons I won’t get into here, because it is another long story.