The 1848 Jenks Carbine

When I was a kid living in Kansas my dad had three antique rifles hanging over the couch in the living room. One was a colonial flintlock musket made in the 18th century. The second was a muzzle loading civil war era musket of a type that saw a lot of action in that war. It's still in great condition--in fact my dad and I would load it up with black powder and shoot it the back yard sometimes!

1848 Jenks Carbine
The third rifle was much more unusual--an 1848 Jenks navy carbine. It's a short, light-weight rifle designed for use on a ship. We nicknamed it "Tiny." I imagine it was possibly used in ship-to-ship battles or possibly on patrols sent ashore. Who knows how far around this world this rifle may have gone. When I was a kid I was allowed to play with this rifle when I had permission (keep in mind, this in an antique and perfectly safe).

Anyway, my dad decided to donate the rifle to the NRA firearms museum. The NRA blog says this was the first donation they've received from Hawai'i and that they expect to put it on display. Kind of neat to know that something I played with as a kid is now in a museum.

My dad notes the following:

The curator of the museum has determined by serial number that it was issued to the Navy's Pacific Squadron in the late 1840's and early 1850's. That squadron was largely in the far east, and saw action in China in the mid 1850's.

-t