.52 caliber rifled. 21" barrel secured by two flat barrel bands. NSN. Browned and color casehardened finish, iron furniture, smooth walnut stock. Single shot percussion breechloading tilting breech carbine with fish tail operating lever, fixed notch rear sight, blade front sight, 8.5" sling bar with ring and button head cleaning and clearing rod. Breech block marked in five lines: "U.S / S. NORTH / MIDLTN / CONN / 1841". Left of breech with block "JCB" (Joseph C Bragg) inspection mark, stock with two legible script cartouches behind the breech, a clear "NWP" (Nahum W Patch) is present on the reverse with the "WAT" of Captain of Ordnance William Anderson Thornton on the obverse.

While the bulk of US Model 1840 Hall Carbines were made with the fish tail lever, about 6,000, the large majority were smoothbore arms. Only a small number appear to have been rifled experimentally, making this a very scarce Hall Carbine variation. The bore is crisply rifled with six grooves that are roughly half the width of the lands. Peter Schmidt's research suggests that only about 250 guns were altered by rifling, probably at Frankford Arsenal. This example is reassembly numbered "156". {ANTIQUE}

Very Good to Near Fine. Bore fine and crisp with sharp rifling, moderate oxidation and some scattered patches of minor roughness. Metal with much of the thinning and fading brown present, showing some scattered oxidation and with moderate roughness on the barrel bands. Breech block with a rich bluish black appearance and clear markings. Cartouches are relatively clear. Mechanically functional action. Wood with moderate wear, some minor slivering in the ramrod channel, and showing the usual scattered bumps, dings and mars one expects, without the often encountered Hall crack at the upper wrist.