Though Colt's revolvers are more often associated with the company's contributions to the Union war effort, the Model 1861 rifles would have been more important on the battlefields. Most of the fighting during the Civil War was done by infantrymen with muzzleloading rifle-muskets. Colt manufactured approximately 100,000 of these rifle-muskets in 1861-1865. Colt's "Model 1861 Special Muskets" were based largely on the British Pattern 1853 rifle-muskets and were built with machinery previously used by Robins & Lawrence to manufacture rifles for the British. The folding leaf rear sight design used on Colt's rifles-muskets were adopted for the Springfield Model 1861, and the U.S. Springfield Model 1863 also adopted other aspects of the design. This high condition example has the standard markings and features and is dated "1863" on the lock and barrel and crisp "DAP" and "JT" cartouches on the left stock flat.

Excellent, nearly as issued, overall with a coat of dried oil/varnish over the otherwise bright metal, nearly all of the original blue on the rear sight, casehardened replacement hammer, and generally only minor storage related wear on the metal and wood. Mechanically excellent.