Three new pieces of hand-held ammunition have arrived ready for the new museum opening here at Armourgeddon this week; a replica Pattern 1857 Enfield, a K98 German bayonet and an 1854 pattern Infantry Officer's sword. Quite a bounty found at our local antiques market.

The Enfield Pattern 1853 rifle-musket- also known as the Pattern 1853 Enfield was a .577 caliber Minié-style muzzle-loading rifle-musket, deployed throughout the British Empire from 1853 to 1867. French Army Captain Claude-Étienne Minié was the force behind the development of the Minié rifle. For the first time, bullets were designed to allow rapid muzzle-loading and this innovation is widely accepted as the reason that rifles became the main battlefield weapon for individual soldiers. Used in active service through to the end of 1889, it is thought that our version of this riffle was an 1870 replica percussion cap rifle.

The percussion cap was introduced to rifle manufacturing in 1820- a crucial development enabling muzzle-loading firearms to fire reliably in the wet. Previously, rifles had required gunpowder to be put into the cap in order for the gun to fire. This was obviously susceptible to rain and wet weather. Therefore the ‘caplock’ or percussion lock system was developed. A percussion cap was a small cylinder of copper or brass with one closed end. Inside the closed end sat a small amount of shock-sensitive explosive material- for example, fulminate of mercury. The cap was placed over the hollow metal nipple at the rear end of the barrel. Pulling the trigger releases the hammer to strike against the percussion cap and explode the primer. The flame then travels through the hollow nipple to ignite the main powder charge.

Percussion caps were introduced into a metallic cartridge, which contained the bullet, powder charge and primer in 1850 but were considered somewhat obsolete by the early 1870s once breech-loading cartridges had been developed.

The term rifle-musket was used to describe rifles that were the same length as their forefathers- the muskets. A long rifle arm was considered necessary to enable the muzzles of the second row of soldiers in battle to project their rifles past the faces of the row in front of them. They were also developed to be sufficient in length that when fitted with a bayonet, they would be effective against cavalry attack if necessary.

The Enfield 1853 rifle-musket is highly sought after by both US Civil War re-enactors and British Military firearms enthusiasts for its quality, reliability nad accuracy. Originals are often found more cheaply than their reproductions, The British company Parker Hale produced a number of Pattern 1853 rifle-musket. Made to original patterns, to 4th model specifications including Braddeley barrel bands as is seen on our version.

The K98 German Bayonet, The Karabiner 98 Kurz was a bolt-action rifle adopted as the standard infantry rifle of 1935 by the German Werhmacht- one of the final developments in the long line of Mauser military rifles used by all branches of the German armed forces during WWII. Seeing action in all theatres of the war through occupied Europe, North Africa, The Soviet Union, Finland and Norway.. Designed to be mounted on the 98K Mauser rifle, some versions of the 98K bayonet were created for parade use only, not meant for combat. It is thought that our vesion of the 98K is a parade use original as there is no evidence of the edge being sharpened.

The German K98 marking system was very complicated depending upon the manufacturer and the year of production. A combination of letter codes and years were used from 1934 to 1945 in order to identify each piece.

Our K98 shows the markings of manufacturer Jos Corts and the year 1940 marked on the top of the Ricasso. The crossguard is branded 7958, the Ricasso 9525 b to identify the owner and the scabbard 0075t. The bayonet is in excellent condition, although the ‘Frog’ buckle strap is quite worn, compounding our belief that this was a parade piece only.

The third piece is a 1870 pattern Infantry Officer’s sword from the British Zulu War era, marked by Maynard Harris & Grice placing production of this sword between 1852 and 1871. The steel hilt guard bears a Royal Cypher of Queen Victoria showing intertwined VR standing for Victoria Regina. The flowers below the initials are known as the flowers of the union; the rose of England, the thistle of Scotland and the clover of Ireland. The etched 84cm blade shows floral decorative markings along its length, which although partially rubbed, are still clearly viable.

Blades of this type often contained markings with the officer’s initials, but not in this case. The sword is in a solid condition with clear etching still visible through the patina and mottling. The blade is straight and solid in the hilt. The grip is made of sharks skin and grip wire with the brass parts of the hilt still solid and in their original shape. The scabbard is dented and marked but certainly in good enough condition to hold the blade.

The pommel of the sword is stepped. At the time of production, there was little evidence of types of pommels referring to rank, owner or even area of service. After 1900, these became more unified and identifiable but before that, it would seem that anything went from stepped, chequered or domed with a pretty even spread of production across the three types.

This original piece will be taking pride of place in our museum once the refurbishments are complete. Although it is great to find replica pieces in antique and military markets, to find an original like this is very exciting!

The museum on site with its extension, Parisian street style café and volumes of tanks will be open from the start of tank season this year, from the start of April.