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US SpringField 1857

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My guess is that the gun was made from assorted parts sometime after the Civil War. Bannermans made thousands of guns from Civil War battlefield pickups as well as damaged Indian war guns and sold them wholesale to hardware stores across the US. The lock plate marking could indeed 1867 with a 1861 or 1855 hammer installed. The trigger guard appears to be from a Trapdoor carbine. I made a buying trip to Bannermans when they were still open for business in 1962. They had barrels, boxes and crates full of musket parts and hundreds of "made-up" guns with assorted parts. Their 1928 catalog shows drawings of various "chimeras" made from assorted U.S. musket parts. Bannermans was not the only company doing this with recycled musket parts. Several hardware store suppliers were contracting out the gunsmithing and selling cheap muzzle loaders to folks heading west.
 
fatcat said:
Please forgive the intrusion, however i noticed you referenced gluckmans, i need to verify a reference to a w sites which may be listed in that book,: my understanding is they list a flint lock built by him.i think he is a relative of john p sites which i have posted about here and in the gun building section of this forum. This may intrest you as it may be that w sites is from senaca rocks wv. Very sorry to intrude on your conversation im just desperate for more info respectfuly fatcat

Sorry I'm so late replying. I've been on vacation and just got back. The book I referenced is Identifying Old U.S. Muskets, Rifles and Carbines by Col. Arcadi Gluckman and it deals exclusively with US military long arms. I'm afraid there is no mention of anyone named Sites in it.

I live about 4 hours from the Seneca Rocks area. There are still quite a few people with the Sites name still living in that area. Some of them own businesses, one of which at least is a camping area and has cabins for rent. You could Google it for a phone number and possibly find a lead for your research on that maker. May be worth a try.
Good luck.
 
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