One of the rifle-musket’s new features was the Maynard tape primer system, which was patented on Sept. 22, 1845, by Baltimore dentist Dr. Edward Maynard. Its purpose was to eliminate the need to manually place a percussion cap on the nipple each time the gun was fired. A paper roll carrying the priming compound was advanced over the nipple each time the hammer was cocked. When the trigger was pulled, the hammer struck the primer, which was a fulminate section incorporated into a strip of paper. The fulminate would detonate, driving a jet of flame through the nipple to ignite the main powder charge, firing the rifle-musket. The system was similar to that of a toy cap gun. The rifle-musket could still be fired with the conventional percussion cap.
The 9-pound, 3-ounce U.S. M1855 rifle-musket had an overall length of 56 inches. The 40-inch-long barrel, finished in the bright, was equipped to accept a socket bayonet. It had an iron-blade front sight and a long-range rear sight graduated to 800 yards. The upper left barrel flat was stamped with the proofmarks “V/P” and an eagle head, and the date was marked on the top barrel flat near the breech. The nipple bolster was equipped with a clean-out screw, and the three flat barrel bands were retained by conventional band springs. The sling swivels were on the middle barrel band and trigger guard. While the fore-tip was of brass, all the remaining furniture was steel in the bright, including the buttplate, which was stamped with a “US.” The M1855s used a swelled-shaft, tulip-head steel ramrod.
The Maynard tape primer door was fitted to the lockplate forward of the C-shaped hammer. Within the compartment, a roll of 50 Maynard tape primers was held. The lockplate was stamped either “U.S./SPRINGFIELD” or “U.S./HARPERS FERRY” forward of the primer door in two lines, depending on which of the government facilities manufactured the rifle-musket. The date was stamped to the rear of the hammer on the lockplate’s rear. The Maynard tape primer door was stamped with a large spread eagle.
Three sample M1855s were made in 1856 at Springfield, and full production was under way that summer, but Harpers Ferry didn’t start manufacturing the new rifle-muskets until late 1857. In 1858, it was decided to substitute a two-leaf rear sight for the long-range rear sight. A year later an iron patchbox was added, plus the brass fore-tip was changed to iron and secured by a screw instead of a rivet, but it was late 1859 before the changes were all made. That year, Harpers Ferry reported 6,489 rifle-muskets manufactured; however, 2,089 were without rear sights due to the delay in final approval for the change over to the new two-leaf rear sights.
The secretary of war’s annual reports from 1857 through the middle of 1860 reflected that the two armories together had made nearly 54,200 M1855 rifle-muskets: By 1861 Springfield Armory had made 47,115; Harpers Ferry had produced 12,158.
The regulars started to receive the new rifle-muskets in 1858, and during the next two years they received 6,800. Troops found several problems with the gun, but the most serious complaint had to do with poor results experienced with the Maynard tape primers. The soldiers at Los Lunas, N.M., found that half of the tape primers misfired. The results were even worse at Fort Stockton, Texas, with only seven tape primers firing out of 144. Unsurprisingly, it was dropped from the M1861 rifle-musket. There were a number of additional complaints: the sights were too coarse; the barrel should not have been in the bright, as some soldiers felt that the sunlight glare on the bright barrel made it more difficult for accurate aiming; some percussion caps failed to fire; and accuracy was mediocre.
Company H, 1st U.S. Infantry was assigned to Fort Stockton in the Department of Texas in the late 1850s. Forty-eight men fired one round each at a target 72 inches by 22 inches at distances of 100, 200 and 300 yards. The results were: 30 hits out of 48 at 100 yards; 30 hits out of 48 at 200 yards; and seven hits at 300 yards. At Fort Duncan, the 1st U.S. Artillery’s results were worse—only 17 rounds out of 39 struck the target at 100 yards. The results at farther distances were even more abysmal.
Southern Deliveries And Confederate Service
Southern states obtained a quantity of M1855 rifle-muskets on their state militia allotments before the war. Florida drew 100 on its 1860 allotment, and a Georgia adjutant general report dated Feb. 26, 1861, indicated the state had received 1,225 M1855s. Tennessee’s 1860 allotment called for 701 M1855 rifle-muskets and 381 M1855 cadet rifle-muskets. Alabama also received 150 of the shorter M1855 cadet rifle-muskets. The major difference between the two rifle-muskets was the length of the barrel. The cadet barrel was 38-inches long, giving it a slightly shorter overall length than the standard rifle-musket.
