Item #69690 : Original period manufacture. 1863 model .58 caliber Springfield rifle, produced in 1864. Converted in 1866 to a breech loading weapon, caliber reduced to .50, using a metallic center fire casing. The breech loading conversion was the brainchild of Erskine S.Allin, head armorer at Springfield Arsenal. It proved to be a game changer in the hands of Infantrymen in the West who operated under a great disadvantage to the Native warriors they engaged in combat. While the muzzle loading Springfield provided a great range advantage, in close quarter combat, the warriors could have 10 arrows in the air in the time it took the soldiers to reload after the initial volley. The Fetterman Massacre in December of 1866 was a prime example of this weapon disparity. The timely issue of the Allin conversion Springfield to Western garrisons proved their worth in August of 1867 at the Wagon Box and Hayfield fights in Wyoming and Montana. There, small numbers of soldiers and civilians hunkering down behind barricades and armed with breech loaders, gave an unwelcome surprise to the attacking Sioux and Cheyanne Our rifle offered here is in sound, operable condition. Bright steel fittings with an 1864 dated lock, and 1866 dated breech. The bore is bright and clean, screws are nice, only minor negative is some shallow corrosion staining along the barrael. Dark wood, no visible marks remain. Make sure whatever patch of dirt you occupy in the lower 48 allows you to own old smokepoles like this. This is an antique rifle, but some states/municipalities apparently don't care.