Smith .50

A

Albertsen

Inactive
This Carbin has been in my family's possession for ages without knowing much about it or how it even ended up in DK.

Can anyone tell me something about it based on the pictures? I am in doubt if the serial no is 3063 or 1466 - maybe it was assembled out of components from different Smits??

Greetings from Denmark!







 
It does look as if it's been put together from two or more guns. Not uncommon, apparently, during arsenal servicing.

Unfortunately, your gun is in pretty rough shape. It's missing the hammer, the barrel band has been removed, and the forearm has either been cut back or replaced entirely. It's also been "checkered" in a pretty crude fashion.

As is, it's not worth all that much.

Smith carbines were designed in the late 1850s, and probably wouldn't have seen much use except for the American Civil War. About 30,000 were made, and almost all were issued to cavalry units, with some going to artillery units.

They fired an outside primed cartridge that was unique because it was made of rubber. Later versions were also made of a combination of heavy paper and metal foil.

Here's a pretty good article on the gun and the guy behind it.

http://www.guns.com/2013/07/02/the-civil-war-smith-carbine-the-case-for-rubber/
 
Hi Mike,

Thanks for your comments - yes the generel share is not the best at all! What would be your best estimate in terms of value?

The serial no's seem rather low though?
 
I'm not sure how the Smiths were serial numbered, so they could be low, or not. Someone with a better knowledge of them would have to weigh in on that.

Value would likely only be a few hundred dollars American, I'd say. The gun's not complete, it's been badly altered, and it's very badly rusted.
 
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