Georgia Armory Rifle

[One is the Left!]

Re: Georgia Armory Rifle

Ok, we have some in-progress shots...



Here I'm removing the modern bluing and my unsightly tub ring at the SAME TIME using White Vinegar. Fair warning: If you do this, your barrel immediately loses protection and will start to rust damn near as soon as you get the vinegar off.



Pictures of the modern marking with the bluing off.


Just a picture of the barrels sitting out all bright and shiny. I'd stripped off the vinegar and then coated the barrels in a bluing remover to leave a uniform finish, after which I cleaned off the bluing remover and hit them hard with WD-40 to protect them in the mean time.


Here's a rough look at the lock plate with the modern finish and markings taken off. Used a dremel to take off the eagle and a rough belt-sanding to take off the finish, as well as making the plate uniform again. I'm going to polish it down to a nice satin smoothness and then either give it (and the barrel) a period bluing, browning or whatever is appropriate. Might just leave them bright.


This is all I've got done at the moment - well, that's not true. I've taken the modern markings off the barrels now and stripped the stocks and prepared them for a good linseed-oiling, but I want to make sure they're the right shape so I need pictures. I've also bought some bayonets, some of which were brass-hilted just like the Zouaves, while others had wood slabs. If I can't find an original with the wood slab grips, I'll just defarb the Zouave pig-stickers and leave them brass.

[One is the Left!]

Re: Georgia Armory Rifle

Now, here you can see a parts comparison between the modern Zouave brass bits and the other period brass that they were based off of, namely the 1855 Springfield and the 1853 Enfield.


Here are the lower barrel bands. If you look close, you can see the ones from the Springfield are just a snudge (An imperial snudge is equal to one half of an imperial weensy bit) too big. I'll have to correct this in casting I expect. However, the original bands may not have conformed to the barrel at all and may have just been flat ribbons welded together, which would make my life MUCH easier. I await pictures to determine the correct method.



Shorter Zouave nosecap against the longer Springfield nose cap.


Now this one is actually pretty interesting. From what I've seen, while the GA rifles used a generally Enfield "look" for their trigger guard, they cast a one-piece trigger guard/plate assembly instead of a two-piece as like the Enfields. This will be a tricky piece to cast, methinks.


Front barrel bands and sling mount, nothing to see heeeeeere.


A grand comparison of the Zouave versus the Springfield hardware

[One is the Left!]

Re: Georgia Armory Rifle

Let's see, for any who may be interested in the project:

Here are pictures of the Unaltered Zouave Rifles:


Here is a picture of the end of the stock, barrel and ramrod, highlighting the bayonet lug. Period pictures show that the brass cap shown is much too small.


Here we have close-ups of the lock cut and lock panel, along with the holes for the round escutcheons. I'll have to drill a space for the "wings", as the GA rifle did not use a simple round configuration


Close-up of the lock plate, showing the federal eagle and the marks left from modern chemical processes.


A close-up of modern manufacturing stamping which we all know and love.


Patch Box and Butt. Took me a while, but I finally found a picture of a Mississippi with a complete accessory kit. I know know what goes IN there.


Picture of the back-end of the rifle and my dainty little piggies.


Stripped end of the stock. This will have to be adjusted for the longer brass cap.


Front and back stripped comparison.


A simple all-over view to compare the finished product.

[One is the Left!]

Re: Georgia Armory Rifle

I've a gentleman who works with the Atlanta History Center, where they have a collection of the variations of the different rifles still in existence. He's promised to provide me with a great deal of pictures of the originals and measurements, as well as bayonets. I've stripped my zouaves down to bare metal and wood and removed the modern markings. Now I just need someone to teach me the art of sand casting and I'll have the brass hardware reshaped as well. Waiting on pictures before I go that far, however.

[arkangel33]

Re: Georgia Armory Rifle

Lee,
I talked with the Curator of Arms and Armor for the Ordnance museum about that being a parts gun. I know it is hearsay but I sat with him and we went through about 3-4 old Bannerman catalogs and concluded we could have made the same gun in the era that Fuller was active in the Gun writing and collecting. One parted up example at least for me does not detract from the prolific writing he did to further the knowledge.

[LWhite64]

Re: Georgia Armory Rifle

One thing to add, check any book to see it references the Georgia Armory Rifle that is in the Fuller Gun Collection at the Chickamauga Battlefield. It has been determined that the one in the collection was a parts gun, so a fake. The lockplate and some of the hardware was real, but it was put on the body of a zouave.

[One is the Left!]

Re: Georgia Armory Rifle

If anyone is still interested in this project, I'm doing a defarb right now. Process is being document on Facebook, I can put something together for instructions if anyone is interested.

[Stevenjohnson9851]

Re: Georgia Armory Rifle

Thanks for the help.

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Georgia Armory Rifle

Hallo!

Confederate Rifles & Muskets by John Murphy and Howard Madaus. 1996.

Chapter XIX, pp. 249-266

Curt

[GrumpyDave]

Re: Georgia Armory Rifle

this any help?

http://gs19.inmotionhosting.com/~milita8/cmh/member/member.cgi/read/8479

[MickCole]

Re: Georgia Armory Rifle

Are there any other known picture of Georgia Armory Rifles othere than the EOG pictures? I have experience building and repairing muzzel loading weapons and metal working. I am crazy enough to jump on this project.

I have some copies of photos from a book on confederate long arms. Will post when I get a chance.
Mick Cole

[Stevenjohnson9851]

Re: Georgia Armory Rifle

Are there any other known picture of Georgia Armory Rifles othere than the EOG pictures? I have experience building and repairing muzzel loading weapons and metal working. I am crazy enough to jump on this project.

Mr. Johnson, please remember to use your first and last name for every post. It is one of the AC's "Big Three" rules.

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/faq.php?faq=new_faq_item1nu#faq_new_faq_item1998

You can easily set an "auto signature" that will show up every time you make a post. It can be found in your settings. Thanks, Herb Coats Moderator

[scottdr2]

Re: Georgia Armory Rifle

I know this is an old thread, but I just got an old copy of Albaugh's book "Confederate Arms" and there is a bad photo of a Georgia Armory rifle. It is a standard Mississippi with no patch box and .58 cal. Lock is marked "Ga. Armory 1862".

[Craig L Barry]

Re: Georgia Armory Rifle

A well known NE collector and N-SSA collector has a custom Fayetteville rifle he built himself that is indistinguishable to my eye from the originals I have seen. He says he has been offered $30K for it from collectors convinced it was a minty original and didn't care that it was a good repro. In a sense, you could say that that the day two fools truly met. One for the outlandish offer and the other for refusing it. At least the gunmaker could claim the high moral ground by preventing that one from ending up sold to a museum someplace as an original.. I wonder how many would take the same tact? We all know the answer to that one. Fakes are abundant.

One well known gunsmith says he intentionally puts mistakes in his de-farbed repros to prevent this from happening. I can verify the mistakes are there as advertised. This is equally incredulous in the opposite direction...meaning who could mistake a commercial de-farbed repro for any original?Your first clue is when you pick it up and it weights 20% more than it should.

Heaven forbid anybody question my commitment to "getting it right" in the musket department, but one must factor in the usage and your motivation for doing so. As Curt points out most of this activity is outside of the ACW and LH culture. I would be pleasantly surprised if most serious enactors just bothered to buff off the modern markings and relocate the serial numbers out of sight. And them made an effort to carriy a musket that somewhat reflected what was in the ranks at the time of the event portrayal. IE: a smoothbore musket.So the consensus as far as the Georgia rifle is "pick another project" unless your pockets are pretty deep to create something most events will prohibit you from using. Just my thoughts for what they are worth...don't do an Enfield either as they are a tad too de-rigueur.

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Georgia Armory Rifle

Hallo!

Correct.

The prices are consistent with "authentic" reproduction custom built pieces. (Traditionally, generally, a concept unknown to and outside of most reenacting and living history cultures.)

Curt
Former ACW Gunbuilder Mess