Erskine S. Allin--some background history.
A photo of E.S. Allin
(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) His cartouche found on many guns.
(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) After the Civil War, the War Department wanted a breech-loading rifle. To be specific, they wanted a breech-loading rifle that would chamber a self-primed, metallic cartridge. This led to the formation of an Army Board who, in 1865, would host trials of different rifles by makers both foreign and domestic. The idea of the Master Armorer at the U.S Armory at Springfield, Mr. Erskine S. Allin, was to take the existing Civil War muzzle-loaders, of which there were thousands, and convert them by adding the now well known “trap door” to the receiver.
“Erskine S. Allin was Master Armorer at Springfield Armory from 1853 until his death in 1879. It would be hard to imagine a more exciting and innovative time in the history of arms making. When Allin started his career at the national Armory at Springfield Massachusetts the flintlock represented the state of the art of small arms ignition. The term flintlock is applied to the mechanism of ignition which was introduced at the beginning of the 17th century. The flintlock quickly replaced earlier firearms-ignition technologies, such as the dog-lock, match-lock, and wheel-lock. It continued to be in common use for over two centuries with essentially no changes. Flintlock muskets were the mainstay of Western armies between 1660 and 1840. It was replaced by percussion cap and, later cartridge-based systems in the early-to-mid 19th century, all within the working life of Erskine S. Allin.”
-Professor Emeritus, James B. Whisker,
West Virginia University
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David
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A very late date for a Springfield Trapdoor Rifle. (Read 6402 times)
