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My findings so far:
There are differing opinions on what the “O” is on some Bridesburg stocks. The O is always under the cartouche of CGC, Charles G. Curtis. The book by Daum & Pate says that Curtis between March 31st and December 31st of 1864 inspected a total of 20,000(in 20 lots of 1000 each) of these muskets. I have a 1861 dated Bridesburg with an O on the lock. I also have a 1862 Dated Bridesburg with O on the stock(100). One of the questions is when Curtis was presented with a musket to inspect did he only stamp one of the 3 major parts or did he stamp all(lock, stock, and barrel)? Note, an O on the barrel will never be seen on a Needham because that portion would have been cut off. Today, it is rare to see a Bridesburg with all three parts stamped on the same gun. That could simply be explained by 160 years of handling, parts exchained etc. The O is seen on a lot of Fenian Bridesburgs. A common theory and it makes sense to me is that Curtis inspected these for Bridesburg and stamped them with an ordnance stamp of O in the hope they could be sold to the government. It appears they many were not and sold to the Fenians instead. Much work is continuing in the area.
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