The beautiful dark chocolate stock has two concentric, shallow stress cracks in the wrist area of the stock. The barrel and ramrod channels have nice crisp edges. There is a small section of wood missing just forward of the bolster, likely caused by burnout from firing. There are no cartouches on the left flat opposite the lock plate. The walnut stock is in very good condition. The butt plate is without the US stamp and perfectly matches the nose cap, both being iron and have a matching patina. The mechanics of this 'high hump' Richmond work perfectly, locking in half and full cock. The lockplate has a slightly lighter patina from the rest of the iron parts.

The lockplate is stamped 1861 behind the hammer and RICHMOND VA. Both sling swivels are present and secure to the middle barrel band and the trigger bow. The three iron barrel bands are all stamped with the letter U, are offset from the springs except for the middle band, and match the barrel patina quite well. The ramrod for this musket is missing in action. The front sight is incorporated into the bayonet lug. The proof marks of V, P and an eagle head on the left barrel facet have me leaning towards the Harper's Ferry. There is no date on the barrel or tang, so I'm not sure of this is a Model 1855 barrel from Harper's Ferry or a Richmond barrel. 66 caliber, so this one did some shooting! The rear sight is missing, which makes it easy to identify this as a correct barrel by the stabilizer cut for the sight. The bore still has a little brightness left to it, but has no rifling left. The barrel has a dull, steel gray, showing some pitting and pinpricking around the bolster and breech area. The weapon has an overall length of 56 1/4', with a barrel length of 40'. The total number of these weapons produced is unknown, but they were made in larger quantities than any other Confederate long arm manufactured during the Civil War. This is a Type I Richmond Rifle Musket manufactured at the Richmond Armory in 1861.

Richmond high hump musket