Civil War Guns: 14 Rifles and Revolvers That Fought the War, and What They Cost Today

Last updated September 29, 2026

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Civil War guns are the rifled muskets, breechloaders, repeaters and revolvers that Union and Confederate soldiers carried from 1861 to 1865. Most men fought with a muzzle-loading rifled musket firing a Minie ball, and by the end of the war Union cavalry had seven-shot Spencer carbines.

Here are the 14 Civil War guns that mattered most, from the Springfield 1861 to the LeMat. For each one I’ll tell you who carried it, what made it special and which reproduction you can buy today, with a live price card wherever our dealers stock one.

This list sticks to the Civil War weapons a soldier carried and fired, so swords, artillery and the Gatling gun aren’t on it.

Civil War Guns at a Glance

Here are all 14 Civil War guns on this list, what kind of gun each one is and which side carried it.

Table of Contents

What Guns Were Used in the Civil War?

The most common Civil War guns were rifled muskets. The Springfield Model 1861 and the British Pattern 1853 Enfield both fired the Minie ball, a hollow-based lead bullet that slid down a rifled barrel and expanded to grip the rifling. More than 1,000,000 Model 1861s were made, and an estimated 900,000 Enfields were imported.

Early in the war plenty of men still carried old smoothbores. A British survey found nearly 70% of the western Confederate forces armed with smoothbore muskets at first, and more than 75% had a rifle later in the war, mostly Enfields. Here’s which side carried the 14 guns on this list.

Side	Guns	Why
Mainly Union	Springfield 1861, Sharps carbine, Burnside carbine, Spencer, Henry, Colt 1860 Army, Remington 1858, Colt 1862 Police	The North made its own guns in volume and bought breechloaders and repeaters for its cavalry, though captured Sharps and Burnsides turned up in Confederate hands
Confederate	Whitworth, LeMat	The South imported most of its best guns through the blockade
Both sides	Enfield 1853, Lorenz, Colt 1851 Navy, Colt 1861 Navy	Imports, captured guns and prewar Colts turned up in both armies

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Civil War Rifles: The Rifled Muskets the Infantry Carried

Most Civil War rifles were rifled muskets, long muzzleloaders that fired a .58 or .577 Minie ball. You loaded each one from the muzzle with a paper cartridge, then put a percussion cap on the nipple.

The Minie ball Americans fired owed a lot to James H. Burton, an armorer at the Harpers Ferry Armory who deepened the hollow in its base so it gripped the rifling better.

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1. Springfield Model 1861: The Union Standard

• Caliber: .58, Minie ball
• Action: Percussion muzzleloader, single shot
• Made: More than 1,000,000, at the national armory in Springfield, Massachusetts, and 20 contractors
• Carried by: Union infantry, the most widely used Union shoulder arm

Category	Rating
History	5/5
Shootability	4/5
Easy to Buy	5/5

The Model 1861 was the most widely used Union shoulder weapon of the war, and more than 1,000,000 were made. The national armory at Springfield, Massachusetts, built them for about $15 each and contracted out to twenty other firms, including Colt. The old armory is now a National Park Service historic site.

It was good out to 200 to 400 yards in the average soldier’s hands, and marksmen could hit a man at 500. It dropped the Maynard tape primer of the Model 1855, because plain percussion caps worked better in wet weather.

Palmetto State Armory lists the Traditions 1861 Springfield at $1,019.99, and there’s a second version on the card at $1,294.99. Our traditional muzzleloaders roundup covers other percussion rifles.

Best For: Reenactors and shooters who want the rifle most Union soldiers actually carried.

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2. Pattern 1853 Enfield: The Blockade Runner

• Caliber: .577, Minie-type bullet
• Action: Percussion muzzleloader, single shot
• Made: In Britain from 1853, more than 900,000 imported into America
• Carried by: Both sides, and the Confederacy’s most-imported arm

Category	Rating
History	5/5
Shootability	4/5
Easy to Buy	2/5

The Enfield was the second most widely used infantry weapon of the war, behind only the Springfield. The Confederacy imported more Enfields than any other small arm, buying from private contractors and smuggling them through the blockade.

It’s estimated that over 900,000 came into America, and they fought in every major battle from Shiloh to the end of the war. Its 39-inch barrel had three-groove rifling, and its ladder sight was graduated to 900 yards, though few soldiers were trained to use it that far.

Pedersoli and Armi Sport both make an Enfield reproduction, but none of our dealers had one when I checked, so there’s no price card here. Look for them at black powder specialists, and see our guide on where to buy vintage guns before you buy an original.

Best For: Collectors who want the rifle that armed the Confederate infantry.

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3. Lorenz Rifle: The Austrian Import

• Caliber: .54, some bored to .58 for the Union
• Action: Percussion muzzleloader, single shot
• Made: In Austria from 1854
• Carried by: Both sides, the third most-used rifle of the war

Category	Rating
History	4/5
Shootability	4/5
Easy to Buy	3/5

Austria adopted the Lorenz in 1854, and it became the third most widely used rifle of the Civil War. The Union bought about 226,000 of them and the Confederates as many as 100,000.

In the western theater it was the most used rifle of the Confederate Army of Tennessee. Some Union rifles were bored out from .54 to .58 so they could share ammunition with the Springfield.

Palmetto State Armory lists Taylor’s Lorenz Infantry at $1,931.99, and Battlehawk Armory had one at $1,434.99 when I checked.

Best For: Western-theater reenactors and anyone collecting both sides of the war.

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Breechloaders and Repeaters

The guns that pointed at the future. Well-trained troops could get off about three aimed shots a minute with a Springfield 1861, so a breechloader, and then a seven-shot repeater, changed the math fast. Union cavalry got breech-loading carbines first, then the Spencer and Henry repeaters that fired metallic cartridges.

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4. Sharps Rifle and Carbine: The Cavalry Breechloader

• Caliber: .52
• Action: Falling-block breechloader, percussion
• Made: Almost 90,000 carbines
• Carried by: Union cavalry mainly, the most common cavalry arm by 1863

Category	Rating
History	5/5
Shootability	4/5
Easy to Buy	3/5

Christian Sharps designed his falling-block breechloader in 1848, and the carbine version was a hit, with almost 90,000 made. By 1863 it was the most common weapon in Union cavalry regiments, until Spencers replaced many of them in 1864.

The rifle in the photo is a Model 1859, the kind carried by the 5th New York Zouaves. Some Civil War carbines even had a small hand-cranked grinder built into the stock, long called a coffee mill, though tests suggest it was meant for grain or charcoal.

Our dealers didn’t have a Civil War Sharps reproduction when I checked. The card shows Pedersoli’s postwar 1874 Cavalry Carbine instead, at $1,896.70 from Battlehawk Armory, and that one is a cartridge gun. Our classic American rifles list covers the 1874.

Best For: Collectors who want the carbine Union cavalry rode with before the Spencer.

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5. Burnside Carbine: The General’s Carbine

• Caliber: .54, copper or foil-cased cartridge
• Action: Breechloader, percussion ignition
• Made: Over 55,000 bought by the Union
• Carried by: Union cavalry, and captured ones by Confederates

Category	Rating
History	4/5
Shootability	3/5
Easy to Buy	1/5

Ambrose Burnside designed this carbine in the 1850s, and it beat 17 other designs in a competition at West Point in 1857. When the war came, the Union bought over 55,000 of them for its cavalry.

That made it the third most popular carbine of the war, behind only the Sharps and the Spencer. An estimated 43 Union cavalry regiments used it in 1863 and 1864, and at least 7 Confederate cavalry units carried captured ones.

Burnside himself went on to command the Army of the Potomac, with mixed results. No dealer on our network had a Burnside reproduction when I checked, so originals from antique dealers are the way to own one.

Best For: Collectors of Union cavalry arms who want something less common than a Sharps.

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6. Spencer Repeating Rifle: The Seven-Shot Repeater

• Caliber: .56-56 Spencer rimfire
• Action: Lever action, 7-round tube magazine in the stock
• Made: Over 200,000, 1860 to 1869
• Carried by: Union cavalry and mounted infantry

Category	Rating
History	5/5
Shootability	4/5
Easy to Buy	4/5

The Spencer was the world’s first military metallic-cartridge repeating rifle, and over 200,000 were made between 1860 and 1869. The Navy adopted it first, then the Army, and by the end of the war it gave Union cavalry a firepower edge the South couldn’t match. Custer’s Michigan Brigade carried Spencers in the Gettysburg campaign, at Hanover and East Cavalry Field.

At the Battle of Nashville, 9,000 Union mounted infantrymen carried Spencers. The Confederates captured some, but they couldn’t make the copper cartridges to feed them. The carbine in the photo is the late-war Model 1865.

Guns.com lists Chiappa’s 1860 Spencer at $2,119.99, and Midway USA has one in the late-war .56-50 Spencer chambering at $2,099. Our guns ahead of their time list covers the Spencer’s place in history.

Best For: Shooters who want to run the lever on the gun that changed cavalry warfare.

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7. Henry Rifle: The Sixteen-Shooter

• Caliber: .44 Henry rimfire
• Action: Lever action, 16-shot tube magazine
• Made: About 14,000, 1860 to 1866
• Carried by: Union soldiers, most bought privately

Category	Rating
History	5/5
Shootability	5/5
Easy to Buy	5/5

Benjamin Tyler Henry patented his sixteen-shot lever action in 1860, and New Haven Arms made about 14,000 up to 1866. The government bought just 1,731, but over 10,000 saw service, because soldiers bought them with their own money.

One Ohio sharpshooter paid a steamboat captain $65 for his just before the Vicksburg campaign, about $1,700 in today’s money. The rifle in the photo is serial number 6, engraved and presented to President Abraham Lincoln.

Palmetto State Armory lists Cimarron’s steel-frame 1860 Henry at $1,564.99, and Classic Firearms had the brass-frame version at $1,513.10 when I checked. Our best lever action rifles roundup covers what came after it.

Best For: Lever-action fans who want the rifle that started it all.

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The Sharpshooter’s Rifle

One rifle earned a reputation all its own, and it belonged to the Confederacy.

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8. Whitworth Rifle: The Confederate Sniper Rifle

• Caliber: .45, hexagonal bore
• Action: Percussion muzzleloader, single shot
• Made: In England, from the late 1850s
• Carried by: Confederate Whitworth sharpshooters

Category	Rating
History	5/5
Shootability	4/5
Easy to Buy	3/5

Joseph Whitworth’s rifle used a twisted hexagonal bore instead of grooves, with a tight 1-in-20 twist. In British trials it hit a target at 2,000 yards, where the Enfield could only reach 1,400.

Confederate Whitworth sharpshooters used it to pick off Union artillery crews, and one is widely credited with killing Major General John Sedgwick at Spotsylvania on May 9, 1864. A surviving Confederate Whitworth sold at auction in 2017 for a hammer price of $161,000.

The photo shows a Whitworth patent target rifle from 1871. Palmetto State Armory lists Taylor’s Mortimer Whitworth percussion rifle at $2,002.99, and Battlehawk Armory had one at $1,860.58.

Best For: Long-range black powder shooters who want the most accurate rifle of the war.

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Civil War Revolvers

Most Civil War revolvers were cap-and-ball guns, loaded from the front of the cylinder with powder, a ball and a cap on each nipple. Here are six of them, from the Colts every cavalryman wanted to the Confederate LeMat, whose cylinder turns on a shotgun barrel.

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9. Colt 1860 Army: The Union Cavalry Revolver

• Caliber: .44 percussion
• Action: Single action, six-shot cap-and-ball cylinder
• Made: More than 200,000, 1860 to 1873
• Carried by: Union army, its most-used revolver

Category	Rating
History	5/5
Shootability	4/5
Easy to Buy	5/5

The 1860 Army was the most widely used revolver of the Union forces, and the government bought at least 129,730 of them. More than 200,000 were made before 1873, and by April 1861, 2,230 of the earliest ones had gone to dealers in the South.

It used the same size frame as the 1851 Navy and had no top strap over the cylinder, which made it slimmer and lighter than the Remington. The catch is that you have to take the barrel off to change the cylinder.

Palmetto State Armory lists Pietta’s case-hardened 1860 Army at $376.99, and Battlehawk Armory had the same revolver at $334.47. Our Colt Single Action Army guide covers the Colt that replaced it in 1873.

Best For: Anyone who wants the revolver a Union cavalryman most likely carried.

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10. Colt 1851 Navy: The Prewar Favorite

• Caliber: .36 percussion
• Action: Single action, six-shot cap-and-ball cylinder
• Made: About 215,000 in America and 42,000 in London
• Carried by: Officers and cavalry on both sides

Category	Rating
History	5/5
Shootability	4/5
Easy to Buy	5/5

The 1851 Navy was a decade old when the war started, so men on both sides already owned one. Colt made about 215,000 in America and another 42,000 at its London armory.

Its .36 ball hit about as hard as a modern .380. The cylinder is engraved with the Texas Navy’s victory at Campeche in 1843, and the photo shows serial number 2.

Palmetto State Armory lists Pietta’s 1851 Navy London in .36 at $344.99. Skip the brass-frame and .44 versions if you want one that matches the original.

Best For: Shooters who want the classic Colt Navy in its original .36 caliber.

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11. Colt 1861 Navy: The Streamlined Navy

• Caliber: .36 percussion
• Action: Single action, six-shot cap-and-ball cylinder
• Made: 38,000, 1861 to 1873
• Carried by: Cavalry and officers on both sides

Category	Rating
History	4/5
Shootability	4/5
Easy to Buy	4/5

The 1861 Navy took the round barrel and creeping loading lever of the 1860 Army and put them on the .36-caliber Navy frame. Colt made 38,000 of them before 1873.

Some cavalry troopers preferred it to the 1860 Army because the lighter .36 kicked less. It was built to load nitrated paper cartridges that burned away completely when it fired.

Farnsworth Firearms lists Cimarron’s 1861 Navy Civilian at $353.50, and Kentucky Gun Co had one at $427.21 when I checked.

Best For: Collectors who want a Navy Colt that most people don’t already own.

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12. Remington 1858 New Model Army: The Solid-Frame Rival

• Caliber: .44 percussion
• Action: Single action, six-shot cap-and-ball, solid frame
• Made: Remington-Beals from 1860, New Model 1863 to 1875
• Carried by: Union army, heavily after 1864

Category	Rating
History	4/5
Shootability	5/5
Easy to Buy	5/5

Remington offered its .44 revolver to the government at $15, which was $10 less than Colt was charging. It stayed a secondary issue until a fire at the Colt factory in 1864 left the Army short of 1860s.

The solid frame with a top strap is stronger than the open-top Colt, and you can swap the cylinder by pulling one pin. The downside is that the barrel doesn’t come off for cleaning.

Palmetto State Armory lists Pietta’s 1858 Remington Army at $386.99, and Sportsman’s Warehouse has one at $409.99. Our classic revolvers list covers it too.

Best For: Shooters who want the sturdiest cap-and-ball revolver of the war.

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13. Colt 1862 Police: The Officer’s Pocket Gun

• Caliber: .36 percussion
• Action: Single action, five-shot fluted cylinder
• Made: About 28,000, 1861 to about 1873
• Carried by: Union officers and civilians

Category	Rating
History	4/5
Shootability	3/5
Easy to Buy	4/5

The 1862 Police was Colt’s pocket-sized .36, and about 28,000 were made from 1861 to about 1873. It shared serial numbers with the 1862 Pocket Navy, so originals turn up numbered as high as 47000.

The NRA National Firearms Museum shows one in its case of Union pistols and revolvers. It’s a lovely little revolver with a fluted five-shot cylinder.

Kentucky Gun Co lists Uberti’s 1862 Police at $437.99.

Best For: Collectors who want a small, elegant Civil War Colt.

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14. LeMat Revolver: The Grapeshot Revolver

• Caliber: .42 cylinder, .63 smoothbore barrel on early guns
• Action: Single action, cap-and-ball with a shot barrel
• Made: About 2,900, in Liege and Paris
• Carried by: Confederate officers and cavalry

Category	Rating
History	5/5
Shootability	3/5
Easy to Buy	3/5

Jean Alexandre Le Mat of New Orleans developed this revolver in 1856 with backing from P.G.T. Beauregard, who became a Confederate general. A smoothbore barrel under the main barrel fired a load of shot.

About 2,900 were made in Liege and Paris. About 900 went to the Confederate Army and 600 to the Navy through Bermuda, and some estimates put the total in Confederate hands near 2,500.

GrabAGun lists Taylor’s LeMat Cavalry at $1,103.99. It’s the most expensive revolver on this list and the most fun to show off.

Best For: Collectors who want the most famous Confederate revolver.

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Can You Buy a Civil War Gun Today?

Yes, and most of them ship straight to your door. Federal law treats a replica of a pre-1899 gun as an antique if it can’t fire conventional fixed ammunition, and it covers muzzleloaders built for black powder the same way. That means every percussion reproduction on this list is an antique as sold under 18 U.S.C. 921(a)(16), unless it’s built on a modern frame or receiver or fitted to fire cartridges.

Guns	What you buy	Federal status
Springfield 1861, Lorenz, Whitworth	Percussion rifle reproduction	Antique under federal law, no FFL needed
Colt 1860 Army, 1851 Navy, 1861 Navy, 1862 Police, Remington 1858, LeMat	Percussion revolver replica	Antique under federal law, no FFL needed
Henry, Spencer, Sharps 1874	Cartridge reproduction	Modern firearm, ships to an FFL
Any original made in or before 1898	Original	Antique under federal law, no FFL needed

The cartridge reproductions are different. A Henry or Spencer chambered for .45 Colt or .44-40 is a modern firearm and ships to a dealer like any other gun. And some states and cities regulate black powder guns anyway, so check your local law before you order.

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What Civil War Guns Cost Then and Now

Here’s what a few of these guns cost in the 1860s, next to what a reproduction or an original costs today.

Gun	In the 1860s	Today
Springfield 1861	About $15 each at the national armory in Springfield	$1,019.99 for a Traditions reproduction
Remington 1858	$15 each, offered to the government	$386.99 for a Pietta replica
Colt 1860 Army	About $25 each to the government	$376.99 for a Pietta replica
Henry rifle	$65 paid by one Ohio sharpshooter	$1,564.99 for a Cimarron reproduction
Whitworth rifle	Made in England and imported	$161,000 hammer price for an original in 2017

Remington undercut Colt by $10 a revolver, but its big Army orders only came after Colt’s factory burned in 1864. And a Henry cost a soldier $65 of his own money, which is why so many of them were bought with reenlistment bounties in 1864. For what an original is worth today, see our guide to gun values.

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Ammo for the Cartridge Reproductions

The percussion guns only need black powder or a substitute, caps and lead balls or Minie bullets. The cartridge reproductions need loaded ammo, and here’s how many listings of it our dealer network had on September 29, 2026.

Cartridge	Guns	Ammo listings	Dealers carrying it
.45 Colt	Henry and Spencer reproductions	285	14
.45-70 Government	Pedersoli 1874 Sharps	270	15
.44-40 Winchester	Henry and Spencer reproductions	48	12
.56-50 Spencer	Chiappa Spencer in the late-war chambering	0	0
.44 Henry rimfire	Original Henry rifles	0	0

Buy your Henry or Spencer reproduction in .45 Colt or .44-40 if you want to shoot it much. A Spencer in the late-war .56-50 is a handloader’s gun, because none of our dealers had a single box.

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Buying Civil War Guns: What to Check

• Original or reproduction. Italian makers like Pedersoli, Uberti, Pietta and Armi Sport build most reproductions, and some are aged to look original. A reputable antique dealer will tell you which is which, in writing.
• Never shoot an original without a gunsmith’s okay. A 160-year-old barrel can hide rust, cracks and old loads. Have it checked before it goes anywhere near powder.
• Black powder only. Percussion guns are built for black powder or a substitute made for them. Smokeless powder can blow one apart.
• Check the caliber. An Enfield is .577 and a Springfield is .58, so buy balls and bullets sized for your gun.
• Know your state. Federal law treats percussion reproductions as antiques, but a few states and cities have their own rules for black powder guns.
• Watch for fantasy variants. Brass-frame Colt Navies, .44 Navies and snub-nose Sheriff models are fun, but they aren’t what soldiers carried. Our best black powder revolvers guide covers which replicas are faithful.

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How I Picked These 14 Civil War Guns

I picked the Civil War guns that mattered most on the battlefield and that you can still buy, as a reproduction or an original. I checked what our 200+ retailers had on September 29, 2026, and each price card says whether it shows a percussion reproduction or a cartridge one.

History comes from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, the NRA National Firearms Museum and published histories of each gun. For more on pre-1899 originals, see our antique firearms guide, and for the wars that followed, see our WW1 guns list.

Photos: each gun is a real museum or Wikimedia Commons photograph, credited under it, placed in a period scene. The featured image is built around a photo of the Colt 1860 Army of Col. Charles G. Stifel, public domain.

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The Bottom Line

If you want one Civil War gun to shoot, start with a Pietta 1860 Army for under $400, because it’s the revolver the Union carried most and it ships as an antique. For a long gun, the Traditions 1861 Springfield is the rifle most Union soldiers actually carried. And if you want a repeater, a Henry reproduction in .45 Colt is the most fun you can have with the history.

Frequently Asked Questions