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Appendix VII Background Correspondence and Information Pertaining to Harpers Ferry Long-Range Alterations of Model 1841 rifles On March 6, 1854, more than a year before the adoption of the 1855 Model series of arms, Chief of Ordnance Colonel Henry Knox Craig appointed an ordnance board with two purposes: (1) to determine “the best mode of applying Maynard’s primer to the arms now used in service, and (2) to “determine such modifications of the rifle or its cartridge as will improve its range.” The first purpose resulted in the alteration of more than 20,000 muskets at Frankford Arsenal using Maynard locks and chambered breech pieces produced by Remington Arms Company. The second purpose resulted in the alteration of almost 10,000 Model 1841 rifles to long-range configuration at Harpers Ferry Armory during the ensuing six years. It would also result in the adoption of ammunition having minie bullets. The ordnance board consisted of Colonel R. S. Baker, as presiding officer, and several ordnance officers who would play major roles in the Ordnance Department in coming years: Benjamin Huger, Colonel J. W. Ripley, John Symington, and Major Alfred Mordecai. Three days later, on March 9, 1854, Colonel Craig replaced John Symington with Major Peter V. Hagner. This board’s recommendations for the alteration of Model 1841 rifles led to numerous trials with various rear sights and bayonets and their attachment to the rifles. Colonel Craig wrote to Major Bell at Harpers Ferry Armory on April 22, 1854, about a prototype “ring,” or “Snell,” bayonet. He enclosed one of these bayonets and an altered section of a rifle’s barrel he had received from Major Bell. Colonel Craig suggested that a provision for locking the bayonet’s pivoting barrel ring in the upright position be made so that it would not bind on the barrel as the bayonet was being removed from the barrel. He returned the bayonet and barrel section to Major Bell. The saber bayonets with ring attachment are attributed to the design of Chauncey Snell of Corning, New York. Snell was a gun-maker who specialized in match rifles. It is not known how the bayonets of his design came to the attention of the chief of ordnance, but it was the first method of saber bayonet attachment introduced into field trials for service to the United States. On May 3, 1854, Colonel Craig wrote to Major Bell, requesting that a rifle be made with a bayonet and different style bayonet stud similar to that of a French carbine “á la tige” that he was shipping to Major Bell. This French arm had a bayonet stud with a long guide key located on the right side of the barrel near the muzzle. Appendix VII 533 Colonel Craig wrote to Major Bell again on May 5 and 11, describing several features that would be incorporated into the 1855 Model series of arms. Some of these, such as a three-groove barrel and long-range rear sight with a hinged leaf and slide graduated to 800 yards, also would be incorporated into existing and future rifles. He added that the British style of barrel bands served “to lighten the arms so much.” British Ordnance had adopted the Pattern 1853 rifled musket that had convex-surfaced bands that were narrower than those used in the United States. Colonel Huger conducted firing experiments at Harpers Ferry Armory in 1854 to determine “the relative merits of certain projectiles for small arms, and the most suitable number of grooves for the regulation rifle.” These experiments were related to the bullets and rifling system that would be used in the 1855 Model series of arms and Model 1841 rifles altered for long ranges. On September 26, Colonel Craig directed Lieutenant J. G. Benton to go to Harpers Ferry Armory and continue Colonel Huger’s experiments. Lieutenant Benton had previously experimented with adjustable long-range rear sights. In order to provide a field trial of minie ammunition, Colonel Craig wrote to Major Bell on May 8, 1854, “It is intended to arm one company of Col. Steptoe’s command with rifles and to supply them with the new ammunition with expanding bullets .” Steptoe’s command was to survey the southern border of the United States that had been established by the Mexican War. As the command passed through Saint Louis on its way to Fort Leavenworth, 60 Model...

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