1863 Savage Rifle & Catalogue

Appraised on: July 9, 2011

Appraised in: Minneapolis, Minnesota

Appraised by: Rafael Eledge

Category: Arms & Militaria

Episode Info: Minneapolis, Hour 1 (#1616)

Originally Aired: May 7, 2012

IMAGE: 1 of 5  

Appraisal Video: (1:21)

GUEST: I brought in a rifle that my dad got in 1940, I'm pretty sure. And he always called it my rifle. And it came from Bannerman's.

APPRAISER: To a Civil War collector, when you look at that catalogue, it's like a Christmas wish book. Because he's like, "Oh, wish I could have that, and I want that, and I want that..." Bannerman, after the Civil War, bought the surplus-- mounds and mounds and mounds of it-- and sold it for over 100 years after the Civil War. The gun is a model 1861 Springfield made by the Savage Firearms company-- Savage is best known for their shotguns- and we have the production date of 1863 on the lock plate. We have the Savage maker mark. They only made 25,520 of these from 1862 to 1864. This one, if we look on the backside, was made for the state of New Jersey. What did the gun cost him?

GUEST: In looking in the catalogue, it looked like it was $12 or ten dollars.

APPRAISER: And most of the time, it was $12 postage paid. Today, this gun, because of the condition, because of your dad's history of getting it from Bannerman's, would retail for about $2,500.

GUEST: That's wonderful. Can I shoot it?

APPRAISER: I wouldn't ever shoot it.