Meant to mention that this carbine was produced late in Peabody production with matching serial numbers in the 103xxx range.  Love the feel of it and pleasent to shoot.

George

No, there are no caliber markings.  Other than the serial number and standard Providence Tool Co./Peabody markings, the only other marks are the usual single letters found on most of the parts on Peabody rifles.

George

I can get pictures of the block and firing pit for you.  I've never pulled this one apart but it isn't very hard.  It will be a few days before I can get to it though.  Got a lot of things on the table right now.

George

Well, well, well!!  Is my face ever red!  I guess I should have looked inside this carbine before I started bragging it up as original.  Now that I have it apart it is clear that it is a conversion.  No doubt about it, the pictures tell the story.  The firing pin is much smaller diameter than an original, more in line with modern rifles.  No evidence on the breech face that the hole has been bushed either.  Add to that the recess for the firing pin "dogleg" having no patina like the rest of the block.  I took a look at the chamber area and the front half is much "fresher" than the rear.  Has to have been extended from the short rimfire to the 50-70.  Judging from the milling, I'd say the conversion was done sometime in the last 20 years.  Probably when by the fellow I got it from got it from his uncle.  Still, the history is there, it just wasn't a 50-70 during the land grant wars.

Oh well.  Next time I'll have sense enough to take things apart before I start bragging up something that just isn't so.   

George

Man, that is really a slick way to do a conversion!  You can have your cake (RF) and eat it too (CF).  I did slug my bore and the groove diameter is 0.515.  That's why I was convinced it was original as the Hall book says the RF's were all 52 caliber, and some of the others were smaller, but none 0.515.  I'm really glad that you bugged me for the pictures as I had never disassembled the carbine until today.   Dealing with these old rifles is always a learning experience.  I sure wish this carbine could talk.  I do know there is some history behind it because of where it came from and who I got it from.  There is always something magic about shooting these old rifles.  I much prefer "working" rifles showing honest useage , to rifles that are "minty"  (whatever that is).  Those perfect rifles have no story to tell other than sitting in a box for 150 years.  Kind of like a Stradavarious that never got played.

George

Singleshotlover: haven't loaded for this .50-70 carbine yet, though use a 420 gr cast bullet in a Peabody Sporting Rifle. I'll be trying out a 365 gr custom RNFP bullet after the first of the year, the 420 gr, as well as a custom mold throwing a 475 gr RNFP bullet. I'll be working the 365 gr in an 1863 2nd Model Maynard carbine in about a month, then move on to the .50-70 doings.

Yes, the wear and tear of 140 years of use could really tell a great story.   I kind of figure that if you want "factory new" you should get something newly made.  Just about everything is being produced these days so you can have a factory new any kind of rifle.  I have never really undertaken the "restoration" of anything, prefering to use them as the are.  And, for the same reason, I have skirted the use of smokeless powder in these old rifles, though cleaning sometimes gets to be a pain.  Still, it is a real challenge to do things the right (hard) way.    I have plenty of other rifles designed for smokeless powder that I can use when I don't want to be bothered with cleaning up.

George