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Robbins & Lawrence “Long Enfield” Rifle Musket  350. In 1851, the Windsor, Vermont, firm of Samuel Robbins and Richard S. Lawrence displayed six Model 1841 rifles of their manufacture at the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London. The components of these rifles were fully interchangeable , which impressed the British military authorities, who were still producing shoulder arms by the century-old “armory system of manufacture” methods described in American Military Shoulder Arms, Volume I. TheBritishParliamentcreateda“CommitteeontheMachineryoftheUnited States of America.” This committee traveled to the United States and toured Springfield Armory, naval facilities, and the manufactories of several American gun-makers. The British ordered 23 gun-stocking machines from N. P. Ames and, in August 1854, ordered about 150 machines capable of manufacturing almost all of the British Pattern 1853 rifled musket from Robbins & Lawrence. A royal armory at Enfield, England, was modernized with this machinery. It was in operation by March 1856, and was producing 1,000 rifle muskets with interchangeable components per week in 1857. In order to augment domestic production, the British Ordnance Board contracted with Fox, Henderson & Company on February 12, 1855, for 25,000 Pattern 1853 rifle muskets at £3/10/0 each, delivered to New York. Fox, Henderson & Company contracted with Robbins & Lawrence on March 8, 1855, for the production of these Pattern 1853 rifle muskets at $15.50 each. Robbins & Lawrence was paid an advance of £20,000 in order to tool up for production. Believing this to be the first of several British orders for large quantities of rifle muskets, Robbins & Lawrence expanded their production facilities. The funds necessary for this expansion caused the firm to borrow large sums of money from banks in Boston, Massachusetts, and Keane, New Hampshire. Additional sums were borrowed from Sanderson Brothers & Company and from State Bank. Additional advances were also obtained from Fox, Henderson & Company. The company built new buildings and machinery in Windsor, Vermont, and Hartford, Connecticut, in order to produce the arms under the existing and anticipated future British contracts. 350.–1 Sixteen thousand Robbins and Lawrence Enfields were produced under British contract in the mid-1850s. Part III 424 Robbins & Lawrence requested model rifle muskets from which to work. These were immediately sent from England, but Robbins & Lawrence discovered that the rifle muskets were too dissimilar from each other to serve as patterns. A set of manufacturing gauges was then requested. The British sent hardwood gauges, but these became warped and swollen during their shipment across the Atlantic Ocean. Because of this useless pattern information, Robbins & Lawrence was forced to produce its own drawings. A model, or pattern, rifle musket was made from these drawings. Hardened steel gauges were then made from the pattern rifle musket. Production was also hindered by a drought in Pennsylvania that caused the suppliers of the black walnut gunstocks to close. The British contract specified that deliveries of 650 rifle muskets per week would begin in June 1855. Due to these delays, Robbins & Lawrence was not able to begin deliveries of completed rifle muskets until December 1855. Their initial deliveries were of only 640 rifle muskets per month, but gradually increased to 2,000 per month by the end of 1856. Robbins & Lawrence had expended much more than the funds advanced by the British in preparations to produce the arms. The company’s financial strength had been previously weakened by an aborted venture into the construction of railroad cars. These combined to result in the company’s bankruptcy on October 28, 1856, and a court’s decree of foreclosure. The company ceased operations. A report of December 23, 1856, stated that 10,400 British Pattern 1853 rifled muskets had been delivered. The creditors joined together in forming the Vermont Arms Company, which was incorporated in February 1857. This company would operate the manufactory; Fox, Henderson & Company agreed on July 30 to accept the previously undelivered balance of the original contract for 25,000 rifle muskets. This company began operations and manufactured another 5,600 Pattern 1853 rifle muskets, largely from component parts on hand, before it also went bankrupt. The company’s assets were seized and sold at auction in 1858. In order to protect their liens, the assets were purchased by the State Bank and Sanderson Brothers & Company. These were sold during the following two years. The Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company purchased the Hartford building and machinery. This...

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