rifle buttplate matbe used during civil war

[Alan Payne]

Hello all, was out Friday at a place we have been to multiple times. So many shotgun head stamps in the ground that we skipped many of those signals. On this particular day we decided that we had just about cleared the ground of head stamps. our intent was to dig everything and to our surprise we were finding a lot of things that weren't head stamps. My brother found a buttplate. I did some research and to the best of my knowledge it is a buttplate to a muzzleloader. Based on my research the rifle had a sliding patchbox probably made of wood. The rifle could have been what is known as a Kentucky Long rifle and based on the curvature of the buttplate I would place it from 1750 to 1790. It also has some flowers on the botton and top areas of the plate. From my research flowers were prominent in the Baroque period in France in the years I believe 1723 to 1750 then this fashion trend spread to other places to include the U.S. Any thoughts on my perspective are most welcome. I would also like to make it known that the homesite the artifact was found was inhabited by a Civil war soldier. Artifacts found included a G.A.R. STAR and two pieces of different Encampment medals both of which were from the state of Pennsylvania. As you all know Pennsylvania is were the Kentucky long rifle in America began with German immigrants. So, there is a possibility that this soldier used this rifle in the Civil War. Another possibility is that this buttplate is off od a model 1855 U.S rifle issued during the civil war. The last possibility to me is less likely. I believe it was more likely to have been passed down in the family. I guess this all depends on the age of the buttplate. Thank you for helping with my quest to age this piece.

 

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[Florida Finder]

Very cool find Alan!

 

[smokeythecat]

That's a super cool find. By the way it is made, I would suppose it was made pre Civil War and could easily be from a Pennsylvania rifle. Some were in use as early as the revolution.

 

[CaptEsteban]

This butt plate may have been used during the Second Indian War, 1835-1842 , in Florida. There was a lot of activity in North Central Florida .

https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/2015/11/26/the-seminole-indian-war/

 

[islamoradamark]

interesting find

 

[devldog]

Nice find and Save of the musket butt plate.