Well, with your good help, I have figured out that the 1862 dated Enfield rifle-musket I have has the Union suppier "SHG" marking on the stock, and not the Southern "SHC" marking. It also has "J SMITH" stamped on belly of stock, who is the stock maker, I guess.
So, I have a Federal Enfield, with wood still pretty nice, and bore in great shape. Nice mechanics, too.
But someone decided to file off the rough metal on the barrel to make it look better, and put some browning solution on the metal. They took off the proof and caliber marks, which I am sure were Birmingham proofs, and "24" bore markings.
This will be a shooter for me, but I don't like that bare metal where these marks should be.
Are the restampings of the companies that do this for defarbing muskets authentic? Who has the best stamps for this project?
Jeff