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335.–1 The Lindsay two-shot rifle musket’s general configuration is of the Model 1863 rifle musket. Lindsay Two-Shot Rifle Musket  335. Lindsay-Walch Pistols Following his employment at Springfield Armory, John P. Lindsay was associated with John Walch of New York City. It has been reported, but not verified, that he was Walch’s partner in the production of Walch’s unusual revolvers . These revolvers were produced under Walch’s patent number 22,905 of February 8, 1859. Their unusual feature was the revolvers’ six-chamber cylinder. Each chamber contained two superimposed loads. The earliest Walch revolvers had two hammers and two spur triggers. The right hammer fired the front charge and the left hammer fired the rear charge in each of the cylinder’s chambers. John Lindsay received patent number 30,332 on October 9, 1860, for his improvement in firearms locks that use two or more hammers. The Lindsay system allowed the use of a single trigger to sequentially disengage multiple hammers . When the trigger was pulled, it released only the right hammer of an arm with two cocked hammers. Only by then releasing the trigger to return forward could the sear engagement of the left hammer be made. A second pull of the trigger would release this hammer to fall. Lindsay also produced a single-barreled .41 caliber pistol with two hammers and two triggers, which fired superimposed charges. His patent drawing for the single-trigger mechanism was of one of these pistols. These double-trigger and the later single-trigger pistols, as well as the Walch revolvers with Lindsay’s single-trigger mechanism, were marketed for several years as “Young America ” arms. It is believed they were fabricated by the Union Knife Company in Naugatuck, Connecticut. Lindsay Rifle Muskets Lindsay applied Walch’s superimposed charge concept with his own singletrigger mechanism to the .58 caliber rifle musket. The rifle musket’s single barrel was loaded with two superimposed regulation charges. One ignition vent extended from below the right nipple to the forward charge, and a second ignition vent extended from below the left nipple to the rear charge. As previously indicated, the system was designed to release the right hammer to fire the front charge first. Non-Armory-Pattern Muzzleloading Arms 405 He submitted his arm for Ordnance Department firing trials. U.S. Trials of the Lindsay two-shot rifle musket were conducted at West Point, New York, under the supervision of Ordnance Captain Stephen V. Benet, with Captain J. G. Benton assisting. The last line of Benet’s report of August 25, 1863, stated, “In my opinion, the invention is a success.” Lindsay wrote to the chief of ordnance on August 28, 1862, proposing to furnish the “two-shot muskets” under contract. Chief of Ordnance General James Ripley responded on September 1 that a trial of the arm by Captain Benet was not sufficient, the cost of the arms was too high, and the arm submitted for trial was too heavy; he added, “it is very objectionable to multiply the variations and kinds of arms in service.” Two weeks later, on September 15, General Ripley was replaced as chief of ordnance by General George D. Ramsay. On October 12, Lindsay wrote to Colonel Hagner and submitted a sample of his double rifle musket that was improved over the two-shot rifle musket, which had undergone trials at West Point. Colonel Hagner forwarded the letter to General Ramsay with a note stating , “The sample submitted to me is entirely satisfactory in workmanship & material, and the appendages proposed will answer for service.” Colonel Hagner then wrote to Lindsay on October 20, stating, “the Secretary of War directs that one thousand of these Arms should be ordered for trial.” On December 17, 1863, General Ramsay ordered 1,000 Lindsay two-shot rifle muskets, at $25.00 each, to be delivered in four months. The contract specified that the rifle muskets components were to be interchangeable with other Lindsay rifle muskets. The complex lock assemblies for these rifle muskets were probably fabricated either at Lindsay’s manufactory, located on Audubon Street along the New Haven–Farmington Canal in New Haven, or by the Union Knife Company in Naugatuck, Connecticut. The major components were made, and the arms were assembled, by Samuel Norris of Springfield, Massachusetts. Norris, in association with William T. Clements, was completing Model 1863 rifle musket...

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