Of all the imported arms utilized by the U.S. government during the American Civil War, the Suhl Contract Model 1861 Rifle Musket is probably one of the most desirable and most difficult to obtain for a collection. In fact, the authors of Firearms from Europe (2nd Edition) describe the gun as “one of the rarest of all Civil War weapons” and further note that “only a handful are known to exist.”
The details regarding these handmade Germanic copies of the U.S. 1861 rifle musket are not particularly clear, but it appears that the guns were probably produced by Christian Funk of Suhl, a town located in the German state of Thuringia. The guns were most likely imported by William Hahn of New York. According to U.S. Ordnance records, Hahn delivered 481 “German Muskets, Springfield Pattern,” at prices that ranged from $14.50 to $16.50 each. The deliveries were made in two lots, with 179 delivered March 7, 1862, and the balance of 302 being delivered on July 15, 1862. Schuyler, Hartley & Graham of New York delivered an additional 400 “Suhl Rifles” and “Suhl Rifle-Muskets” to the U.S. Government between February 17 and March 10, 1862. However, the pattern of these arms is not noted in the delivery documents. The majority of the Germanic rifle muskets delivered by Schuyler, Hartley & Graham were of the Enfield pattern, making it likely that these 400 guns of “unspecified pattern” were the Enfield pattern that was also produced in Suhl, and not M1861 types.
The Suhl “Springfield” was essentially a handmade copy of the U.S. M1861 rifle musket. It was a .58 caliber muzzleloading rifled musket with a 40 inch round barrel. The breech area of the musket had a pronounced octagonal section, making it somewhat bulkier in that area than standard US muskets. As the guns were handmade, they did not feature interchangeable parts. This meant that the U.S. Ordnance Department considered them “2nd Class” arms, even though they were of the standard .58 caliber.
Extant surviving examples of these rare guns are known with various markings, but the two consistent features on all known examples are the unique “Spread Winged Eagle” on the lock plate and the assembly numbering of the component parts of the gun. Assembly numbering varies in location and style between known examples. Some show the numbers on every single part, down to the necks of the screws; some show less consistent numbering, with variations as to exactly where the assembly numbers are applied. The fact these numbers are actually assembly or batch numbers is proved by the fact that the numbers encountered are always rather low; typically under 50 to my knowledge; I have examined two different Suhl M1861s that were numbered “19.” In examining two fine condition examples recently, I had the opportunity to fully disassemble the guns, including removing the 1858 pattern rear sights. I did this to confirm that the sights were assembly numbered to the guns. What I found was quite interesting. The gun that was assembly numbered “20” over its entirety was numbered “31” under the sight base and in the rear sight dovetail. The fact that the barrel, was numbered “20” on its bottom, matching the other assembly numbers, but numbered “31” in the dovetail, as was the sight, suggested that maybe the 31 was more of a serial number than an assembly or batch number. This was supported when I disassembled number “19” (the second gun I had seen with that number) and found that it was numbered “152” under the rear sight and in the dovetail. This proves almost conclusively that these markings relate to the number of guns produced, rather than being a secondary assembly number.
Some known examples are marked CH. FUNK / SUHL on their locks, while some bear no maker’s mark at all. In some cases, this same mark is found on the interior of the lock plate and/ or on the bottom of the barrels. At least two styles of “US” markings on the lock are known, and proof marks vary among the handful of known specimens, with some marked externally while some are marked under the barrel. All known examples are dated 1861, with the exception of one dated 1862, are marked on the lock and usually on the top flat of the breech. Some are known with U.S. inspectors’ cartouches on the stock flat, and some are known with no such marks. At least one example is known with an “OHIO” stamp, but that would have been applied by the state Ohio when it received several lots of surplus and second-class arms from the U.S. Government in 1863–64 to recompense the state for arms it had provided to its volunteer troops at the beginning of the war.
Some authors have referred to the guns as having stocks made of “maple” or “light colored European walnut.” From my observations of a handful of extant examples, the guns appear to be beech, the typical stock wood used in Prussian arms of the period. It is possible, however, that a contract to produce U.S. pattern arms would have specified the wood used in the stocks, so some may have been stocked in a light colored European variant of walnut.
In a departure from the U.S. M1861 lock design, but typical of European percussion muskets, the half-cock notch is just barely above the cone (nipple), allowing the hammer to act as a cap safety to keep it in place. While a U.S. musket can be (and was supposed to be) capped at half cock, these guns require the hammer be pulled to full cock for capping, and then lowered to the half cock position where it would be so close to the cone that the cap could not fall off.
One interesting fact rarely noted is that most of the finer condition examples known retain at least some remnants of tin plating. When I first encountered this a few years ago I assumed the plating was a post war addition, possibly from display in a Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) Hall collection. Since then, I have examined other examples that show the exact same finish, suggesting that the guns, or at least a portion of them, may well have been delivered tinned.
The Suhl Contract U.S. Model 1861 Rifle Musket pictured in this article is a particularly fine condition example. Nearly every part of the gun is marked with the assembly number 20. In some cases, the marks are weak or difficult to see, and in others the oddness of European style “2” die used make a weakly struck mark initially appear to be a different number. All primary interior lock parts are stamped with the matching assembly number 20. The interior of the lock is also stamped, above the mainspring, CH. FUNK / SUHL. The exterior of the lock is clearly marked with the date 1861 horizontally to the rear of the hammer, and with the unique (Spread Winged Eagle) forward of the hammer in the upper center portion of the lock, behind the bolster. The front edge of the lock is marked U S, with the same style mark applied to the buttplate tang. The top of the breech flat is clearly marked with a matching 1861 date as well. There are no other external marks on the barrel other than the date on the breech. The bottom of the barrel is marked with the same CH. FUNK / SUHL mark found inside the lock, as well as with a variety of foreign assembly and proof marks. The bottom of the barrel is marked with two deeply depressed diamond shaped proofs that appear to have a script, lower case “g” inside them; it almost resembles the number “6.” The bottom of the barrel is also marked SUHL and 8. The bottom of the barrel and the bottom of the breech plug are both assembly numbered 20. This same assembly number is present inside the lock as noted, on the inside neck of the hammer, on the bottom of the buttplate, inside the trigger guard, on the necks of the screws, and on the forward side of the swivel lug found on the middle band and on the face of the nose cap. I have seen examples where even the ramrod was numbered. While this appears to be an absolutely correct, original Suhl contract ramrod (the tulip heads are not quite the same as the U.S. ramrods, being somewhat more geometric and less smoothly rounded), I could not find a number, but it could have been worn off or poorly struck as well.
The external markings Interior lock markings of Suhl M1861 showing the assembly number 20 and the CH Funk, Suhl marking. This same two-line Funk mark is found under the barrel of this gun as well.
Breech view of Suhl M1861 #20 showing the breech date and the M1858 pattern rear sight, note the “swept wing” sight leaves that were changed to flat topped leaves with the adoption of the M1861 rear sight.
Assembly #20 on in the triggerguard. These assembly numbers appear on nearly every part of the musket.
remain extremely crisp, and sharp throughout, with only some assembly numbers showing any particular wear or weakness. The internal markings remain quite crisp as well. The metal also retains much of the thin period tin plating.
The gun retains its original and correct multi-leaf rear sight, copied from the U.S. M1858 pattern sight. This indicates that the pattern gun that Funk used to produce these rifle muskets was produced prior to July 1861, when the Ordnance Department adopted the new M1861 pattern rear sight, designed by Elisha K. Root of Colt’s Patent Firearms. The sight base even includes the “steady pin” and the barrel has a “steady pin notch,” features that were standard on U.S. M1855 rifle muskets from 1858–1861; a feature that was quickly phased out on the M1861 and only appears on the earliest of those rifle muskets.
While the stock shows no U.S. inspection cartouches, this is not uncommon on extant examples. The wood of this gun is crisp enough that it is unlikely that the cartouches were worn or sanded off; they were simply never applied. Most arms purchased on the open market by the U.S. Ordnance Department, rather than by an official U.S. manufacturing contract, did not receive any sort of Ordnance Department inspection markings. The stock has a light brown color with a slightly orange tone that is almost honey colored; this is reminiscent of the Germanic beech wood found in Potsdam and Lorenz musket stocks. The wood to metal is very fine throughout, every bit as good as the fit and finish found on many U.S. contractor made guns of the period.
It appears unlikely that more than a few hundred of these German made M1861 rifle muskets were purchased during the course of the war and there are truly only a handful of these guns known today, with many of them in institutional collections. The scarcity of these guns make them a “Holy Grail” for the advanced collector of unique, imported Civil War martial arms. The fact that they are such close copies of the M1861 rifle musket means that it is worth paying close attention to arms for sale at Civil War and antique arms shows, as you might sneak up on one of these rarities one day because you know about these guns and the seller might not.
Tim Prince is a full-time dealer in fine & collectible military arms from the Colonial Period through WWII. He operates College Hill Arsenal, a web-based antique arms retail site.
A long time collector & researcher, Tim has been a contributing author to two major book projects about Civil War era arms including The English Connection and a new book on southern retailer marked and Confederate used shotguns. Tim is also a featured Arms & Militaria appraiser on the PBS Series Antiques Roadshow.