Only 1,500 of these Third Models were reportedly manufactured by the Burnside Rifle Company in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1862. They were designed by General Ambrose E. Burnside and improved by George P. Foster. Burnside carbines received strong reviews in antebellum trials and from Civil War battlefields. Burnside himself did not have the best record during the Civil War and is probably most famous for being the origin of "sideburns" which were popularly known as "burnsides" in the era. The third model differs from the second model in that it has the addition of a wood forearm, and it retains a solid breechblock unlike the fourth and fifth models with a hinged breechblock. It has a pinched blade front sight, notch and folding leaf rear sight (graduated for 100, 300, and 500 yards), partial marking "CAST STEEL 1861" on the top of the barrel, the matching serial number "3161" marked on the receiver, breechblock, and underneath the barrel, "BURNSIDE RIFLE Co./PROVIDENCE=R.I." on the lock plate, and a faded illegible cartouche on the left side of the stock.

Good, with artificially applied brown finish on the barrel, bright surfaces with some areas of scattered mild freckling/pitting on the frame and components as lightly cleaned, and absent patent markings on top of the frame. The wood is also good as refinished, with scattered light scratches and dents, and slightly undersized at the toe. Mechanically fine.