Info on Suhl Musket

[kevikens]

I have a Suhl musket that I have a few questions about. It was made for the German federal Navy which existed for about three years, from 1849-1852. It is .71 caliber, three brass bands. It has the anchor cartouche in the stock and barrel. Some of these wound up being used in the Civil War and this one was issued to the Phila, City Guard in 1861 after being proofed by Wurflein and Sons, Phila (so marked on barrel). What has me puzzled is its appearance. When I saw it on a gun rack it was in such good shape I thought it was a repro as the barrel appeared almost shiny. Anyway when I got it home and looked closely it appears the barrel is chrome plated. Only around the nipple is there any wear/pitting of the chrome. What I would like to know is were these naval muskets chrome plated back in Germany for sea use or was it chromed by the City guard for ceremonial use. The Guard was only called up once, in August of 1862 as Lee moved North. If any readers know anything about this sort of firearm I would appreciate knowing about it. Thanks

[John Holland]

It is a Model 1839, and is most likely Nickel plated for GAR parade use, and not Chrome plated. The Nickel plating process was commercially perfected in 1871 and Chrome plating didn't come in until around 1920, or so. The myriad of arms marked Wurfflein & Sons for the City of Philadelphia weren't proofed by him, they were cleaned up and refurbished as necessary to make them presentable for use by the City Guard.

JDH

[mikec]

It is a Model 1839, and is most likely Nickel plated for GAR parade use, and not Chrome plated. The Nickel plating process was commercially perfected in 1871 and Chrome plating didn't come in until around 1920, or so. The myriad of arms marked Wurfflein & Sons for the City of Philadelphia weren't proofed by him, they were cleaned up and refurbished as necessary to make them presentable for use by the City Guard.

JDH

It's a Model 1849 (The German Federal Navy didn't exist in 1839).