Original U.S. Civil War M1864 Triplett & Scott Kentucky Contract Repeating Rifle by Meriden Mfg. Co. - Serial 2269

Original Item: Only One Available. Developed by LOUIS TRIPLETT and WILLIAM SCOTT of Columbia, Kentucky and manufactured under contract by the Meriden Manufacturing Company of Meriden, Ct. This is a Repeating Rifle enclosing a 7 Shot tubular magazine inside the wood butt. It is loaded from the front once the swivel breech of the action is fully opened. These were all chambered for the .56-50 Spencer cartridge, referred to as .50 caliber. The serial number is marked on right rear of the action, and on this example is 2269, out of a total production of about 5000.

The Triplett & Scott guns were made in two lengths; a short 38 inch carbine with a 22 inch barrel, and a rifle such as this, which is just under 46 inches long with a 30 inch barrel. 2,000 carbines and 3,000 rifles were ordered January 2, 1865, all delivered by April 1865.

This is a lovely example of the Kentucky National Guard contract rifle, and the breech tang is still marked with the patent information, which is still crisp:

TRIPLETT & SCOTT
PATENT DEC. 6, 1864

The left side of the rear action is marked with the manufacturer information, which is still clear as well:

MERIDEN MAN'FG. CO.
MERIDEN CONN.

The left side of the breech is clearly marked with KENTUCKY, indicating that this was part of the Kentucky National Guard order.

The condition of this example is quite good, with a good amount of the original blued finish present on the barrel and parts of the action, while the rest is faced to a lovely oxidized patina. There is some past peppering on the magazine housing, but overall it is very nice. Early breech loading firearms were notorious for having a poor gas seal, which resulted in powder fouling around the breech, however we can see very little such damage on this example. The bore is actually quite nice, with clear crisp lands and grooves and a partly bright finish. There is a bit of past fouling and oxidation in the grooves, but nothing out of line from usual wear from service.

We checked the action, and it looks to be functional, though we have no way of testing it. The receiver breaks open and rotates correctly, with the ejector presenting and retracting as it rotates. The magazine door is properly pushed out of the way, and quickly closes back up correctly, and the follower and spring are still present. The lock is fully functional, holding at half cock and firing only at full, though the trigger pull is a bit stiff. The breech lock looks to be fully functional. Both sights are present, with the rear sight still functional, but a bit stiff, and the sight slider needs adjustment.

The stocks are in good shape, with the black walnut showing a lovely aged red brown color. The fore stock is in very good condition, without any major damage or wear, while the butt stock has repaired cracks on the left side, which is definitely a common place to see these. The wood is very thin there due to the magazine tube, and over time the wood can shrink, leading to cracks. Both the lower sling swivel on the butt and the upper swivel attached to the butt plate look to have been removed long ago.

A very nice example of a rare late Civil War issue rifle with a very interesting reloading system. Ready to display!

Specifications-

Years of Manufacture: 1864 - early 1865
Caliber: .56-50 Spencer Centerfire (.50 Spencer Carbine)
Ammunition Type: Centerfire Cartridge
Barrel Length: 30 inches
Overall Length: 46 inches
Action: Rotating Action with Manual Hammer
Feed System: 7 Round Tube Magazine

History and overview of the Triplett & Scott "Kentucky" Carbine-

The Triplett & Scott was a rather unusual piece during its era, as virtually all of its contemporaries were single shot firearms. The Triplett & Scott, on the other hand, was a repeating carbine holding seven shots in the magazine. The design itself consisted of a two parts, where the entire barrel, breech etc. would be attached to the stock (and other components) via a revolving hinge, which allowed the barrel to be twisted clockwise in order to allow the spent cartridge to be ejected. When this cartridge was ejected the barrel would be twisted further towards clockwise, releasing a spring latch which loaded the next cartridge. The barrel was then twisted anti-clockwise, locking the barrel in position for firing.

This design required the magazine, tubular in design, to be mounted within the buttstock. This presented two problems: firstly that the magazine could not be removed, meaning the shooter would have to reload the magazine with each cartridge one at a time; and secondly this design severely weakened the buttstock. The area around the wrist of the stock was almost entirely taken up by the magazine, leaving little wood joining it to rest of the stock, often causing the stock to snap under little stress.

Otherwise the Triplett & Scott was rather uniform to any other carbine of the era, with a blued, five groove rifled barrel and basic iron sights. The action resembled the familiar percussion lock design, although it had been modified so that the hammer would strike a firing pin, meaning that the Triplett & Scott could use metallic rimfire cartridges instead of the more familiar paper cartridges.

Records show the initial customer was the Kentucky National Guard but quickly followed by a 5,000 gun contract from the U.S. War Department. All 5,000 of these carbines were delivered before the War ended in April 1865. According to the records accessed on the Internet most of the initial Government delivery were issued to General Sherman's troops for their Campaign through the South when they burned ATLANTA.

Sadly interest waned once the Civil War concluded making this most interesting forward thinking Repeating Carbine hard to find today. In nice condition ready to display. An extremely interesting piece!

NOTE: International orders of antique firearms MUST be shipped using UPS WW Services (courier). USPS Priority Mail international will not accept these. International customers should always consult their country's antique gun laws prior to ordering.