Help identifing my Great Great Grandfather Musket

[mustangpalmer1911]

I am hoping someone can help me identify my Great Great Grandfather's Musket we arnt positive but we believe it was what he carried during the Civil Way. He was a Federal Soldier in Artillery.

Info I have on the Musket is
It has 4138 cc 2 it looks like on the barrel, precussion, and on the brass side plate is a odd symbol and the #13. I have a bunch of photos to help.








And just because I think it is great his initials on the stock.

[Dan Mastin]

PM sent.

[Don Dixon]

The firearm shown in you photographs began life as a Muster 1849 Austro-Hungarian Army Kammerbüchse rifle. A number of them were imported and sold to the Federal government during the Civil War. It is unlikely that it was carried by your GG grandfather, however. After the war, the Austrian arms were sold by the Federal government as surplus. Many of those arms were convered by arms merchants into shotguns. What you have pictured is typical of those conversions.

Regards,
Don Dixon
2881V

[Dave Fox]

I dunno. This is the sort of second class weapon a Federal heavy artilleryman might have been issued. At war's end it is also the sort of weapon he might have been able to purchase when mustering out. There's a photo, I think in Bill Edwards "Civil War Guns" of an Illinois veteran in his later years holding his Germanic musket.

[Southron Sr.]

Do you know what military unit your ancestor joined? If so, we can probably look up the records and see what arms were issued to his unit. Usually artillerymen were not issued small arms (except pistols) although some long arms were kept in one of the unit's wagons for use when they were needed.

[Richard Hill]

It's an 1849 Austrian, as noted above, that has been "sporterized" post war. Around 25,000 of them were converted to cap lock in Belgium and imported by the Union, where it was known as the "Garibaldi Rifle".

[mustangpalmer1911]

Weather he bought he after or what who knows. He was Artillery and from what I understand they were issued the 2nd rate small arms. Ill find out what unit he was unit with . He spent 35 years 1862-1897 in the the U.S. Army.

[Oregon Reb]

I had no idea it was possible to find out what weapons were issued to units. Is this true for Confederate units? My Great Great Grandfather was a Cpl in 1st Bn NC Sharpshooters, (also known as 9th Bn), any one know? My guess is P 1853 3 band.