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LOT 212
Outstanding Civil War U.S. Martially Inspected Ball & Williams Ballard
Carbine - Serial no. 10878, 44 RF cal., 22 inch part octagon bbl., blue
finish, walnut stock. Ball & Williams were originally contracted to
manufacture 5,000 of these carbines in January 1864 but ultimately
only delivered 1,500 before abandoning the contract in favor of
better profits received from contracts for the Kentucky cavalry. Of
the 1,500 delivered to the federal government, 1,200 were issued to
the Vermont militia after the St. Albans Raid, the northernmost land
battle of the war. This example appears to have seen little, if any, use
at all and is likely one of a very select few that was not issued and
most likely instead sat in government storage. It features a blade
front sight, standard notch and folding leaf rear sight, Ballard patent markings
on the right side of the frame, Ball & Williams and Merwin & Bray markings
on the left of the frame, “M.M” inspection initials on various components, “H”
inspection mark on top of the stock ahead of the buttplate tang, and a circled
script “MM” cartouche on the left of the stock.