Ball's patent repeating carbine - $4500.00
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Ball repeating carbine by E.G.Lamson & Co., Windsor, VT. Flayderman 9B-038. Only 1002 produced, these scarce and unusual guns were contracted for in 1864, but despite not being delivered until May 1865, are often kept in a collection of Civil War arms, as the motivation behind their existence certainly came during an important period during the war. Hammer is cocked and lever is worked to prepare for firing. Internal 7-round magazine within forearm accepted cartridges of Spencer chambering, rod at muzzle is pulled forward to move the follower. The products of the Lamson factory exhibit some of the best quality of all Civil War arms and these Ball carbines are no exception. They have an unusual mechanism that obviously failed to usurp the Spencer as a primary repeater and the Sharps as the favored single shot. Today, the building built for Robbins, Kendall, and Lawrence, where Lamson operated, is preserved as the American Precision Museum, dedicated to the preservation of the machines and instruments used in the "American System of Manufacturing", or precision interchangeable parts, which enthralled the industrializing world for its possibilities for mass production using many workers who didn't need to be trained craftsmen, but machine operators.
The carbine itself is in a very fine state of uncleaned preservation with bold swirls of original color casehardening on the frame, lock, buttplate, and barrel bands muted a little with a light brown patina. Stock has a large enclosed inspector cartouche behind the saddle ring, and tiny sets of initials forward of the buttplate tang and in the underside of the forearm. The wood in general doesn't show much wear, but has some marks from handling and storage scattered about, particularly at rear of forearm on left side, a couple in toe of butt, an impression to the right of the buttplate tang, a mark at the front of the butt comb, a mark at the rear of the left side of the frame, and one to left of frame tang. Marks in general show age and did not happen recently. The forearm shows some minor marks from the barrel bands having been removed when not having been loosened enough. Mechanically good, sold as a collector item only, not warranted safe to shoot.
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