Parker Hale 1861

[Jkrem]

I have wanted one of these for a long time, and I finally lucked into one I could afford due to some wood and metal finish wear. The bore is bright with strong rifling and no pitting. I have been researching the Birmingham proof mark and come up with 1970. No idea what year it was assembled. I bought some .550 Pritchett paper cartridges, and cast a dozen Minié balls to try in her in January. That will give me something to play with while my Dickert rifle project ticking along slowly. 252874252875252876252877252878252879

[scattershot]

Looks nice. That’s a fine rifle, enjoy.

[carbine]

You are about an hour away from the Springtown R&G club. The N-SSA.org has about 3 shoots a year there. Bring your musket

[ResearchPress]

The 1861 Artillery Carbine was introduced in 1972. Based on the serial number I’d estimate 1978 for yours. If you ever remove barrel from stock, look up the tiny code after the proof load information; two letters and a number between crossed swords or within a circle. Let me know this and I can confirm what year the barrel was proofed.

David

[Jkrem]

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[ResearchPress]

Don't know why I missed the proof stamping in your orignal post - and yes, it does look like code for 1970. Very strange though as that is two years before the rifles were on the market. Your serial number (and I have a database of over 600) places it c1977-1979. I can't explain why this would be...

David