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Colleagues,
I would like to open a discussion on the subject of Engraved Enfields for the Reenactor. In my experience, I have not seen this put into practice by the Confederate Reenacting community. I know there is special attention paid to "De-Farbing" P53 Enfields ; which may entail the placing of various importer stamps and marks. The JS Anchor Holy Grail mark seems to put the "cherry on top". However, the engraving of the Butt Plate, and in some cases stamping of the stock, in my opinion, would truly put the finishing touch on a Confederate Reenactors Firearm.
There are so many other marks, known and unknown, which also place the P53 in the Confederate realm of use. Caleb Huse, Sinclair and Hamilton, Issac and Campbell are known Confederate Agents/Partners when it comes to weapons provenance. Other marks as the Diamond C, TC over a Star and large Block letters on the weapon also confirm Confederate use.
I will withhold my intellectual property regarding the subject upon feedback from the community. Does this topic interest you?
I look forward to an open discussion.
Respectfully,
Michael Collins
I would like to open a discussion on the subject of Engraved Enfields for the Reenactor. In my experience, I have not seen this put into practice by the Confederate Reenacting community. I know there is special attention paid to "De-Farbing" P53 Enfields ; which may entail the placing of various importer stamps and marks. The JS Anchor Holy Grail mark seems to put the "cherry on top". However, the engraving of the Butt Plate, and in some cases stamping of the stock, in my opinion, would truly put the finishing touch on a Confederate Reenactors Firearm.
There are so many other marks, known and unknown, which also place the P53 in the Confederate realm of use. Caleb Huse, Sinclair and Hamilton, Issac and Campbell are known Confederate Agents/Partners when it comes to weapons provenance. Other marks as the Diamond C, TC over a Star and large Block letters on the weapon also confirm Confederate use.
I will withhold my intellectual property regarding the subject upon feedback from the community. Does this topic interest you?
I look forward to an open discussion.
Respectfully,
Michael Collins
It can even go the other way because another customer brought me his new shiny LAC defarb he got from "the old man" that had a lovely LAC lock and pretty shine with the LAC markings on the wood pretty decently done. The gun was polished nice and bright, but "the old man" failed to stamp the LAC proofs on the barrel. The customer said that when he asked "the old man" about it the reply was "not all LAC guns were proofed." WTH!?
I stamped his barrel for him at no cost just to make it right. (I hate to think someone is unhappy about their piece after paying all that money because they will always have that sick dissatisfied feeling every time they look at it.) Since nobody really knows with any certainty what the "rack/lot/inventory/buying" engraved marks really were on the guns today it is reasonably safe to just use a number that seems in the range of correct markings. I have seen a lot of these that have markings on stocks stamped in such as a 24 over a 7 with a line between them. What was that and more importantly when was it added and by whom? My guess is that some Regiment or Company someplace inventoried the guns in that manner and those markings survive. BUT - and this is a big BUT, was it an English unit before the gun was shipped States-side, or was it an English unit or Indian unit and that gun only came over here long after the Civil War ended? It is not uncommon at all to find markings on equipment that has been over-stamped and new markings added signifying at some point the item changed ownership either unit-to-unit, or army-to-army or nation-to-nation. I am reasonably certain just by personal knowledge of many periods of weaponry that some Civil War era items would have had some of these numbers left over from previous owners whether because they came out of unknown arsenals, or were parts-guns, or battlefield-acquired. Sometimes a strange mark can allow us to just make up a little bit of a story to tell to spectators asking questions to add some flavor to our stories. If that's your bag.
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