This is a strong, nice Enfield Rifle with smooth metal surfaces and smooth rubbed wood.  There is no disfiguring pitting around the bolster and the wood has a minimal number of dents and dings.  It still has nice rifling in the bore, which needs a good cleaning.  It is marked 1862 over Tower forward of the hammer on the lock plate and Crown to the rear.  It has standard Birmingham proofing on the left rear of the barrel with a Diamond/C stamp.  The right side of the butt stock is crudely but clearly marked A. Stake. 

Now, I have heard a number of different theories regarding the Diamond/C marked Enfields.  The barrels of Diamond/C marked Enfields are one inch longer than the standard P-53.  They are all 40 inches in length.  Some say the Diamond/C mark is a Colt Firearms mark.  They whisper it as though it was some sort of negative.  It is perfectly plausible that it is the property mark of Sam Colt.  This barrel was made by W. Milward so it is certainly not something that Colt made. 

As soon as hostilities broke out in America, Sam Colt sent one of his relatives to England and Europe to buy all the available Enfield parts which could be bought.  In the English gun trade, very few makers made an entire gun.  There were barrel makers, lock makers, artificers, stockers etc.  Contract holders assembled guns from parts made by various makers.  Sam Colt was an unbelievably shrewd and astute businessman.  His first priority was to profit from the war.  But having failed in his attempt to establish a manufactory in England in the early 1850's, he knew how difficult that prospect would be.  Had he done so, he would have sacrificed his favored standing with the United States Government, who was his major customer for his Colt Pistols made in Hartford.  He also understood how the English gun trade was organized, virtually an extension of the guild system.  So he bought parts and at least one shipload came back to the United States.  He no doubt, later sold his parts back into the English gun trade and knowing him, made a significant profit. 

I have also heard, and again without historical documentation being presented, that the Diamond/C was a part of a Spanish contract, which was diverted to the South.  This is also plausible.  I would even go so far as to say that the Spanish contract may have been no more than a ruse to manufacture a group of guns, which were surreptitiously destined for Southern consumption.  I have never seen a Diamond/C marked Enfield with any type of Spanish or any other European markings.  Without front companies and disguised  intentions, it would have been very difficult to extract 300,000 Enfields out of a country, which had not recognized the Confederacy and which was somewhat obligated by its long standing relationship with the United States of America. 

Now all of that may be but no one yet has produced any documentation to me that sways my opinion that Diamond/C marked Enfield P-53's are Confederate contract weapons.  I have owned five or six of these guns over the last 20 years.  They are really uncommon but in each and every case, the gun was clearly Confederate.  Some had JS & Anchor marks and blockade numbers, some had South Carolina marks and others had names or regimental marks carved in the wood, which were definitely attributable to Southern soldiers.  You will note that this gun is missing its rear sight.  That sight has been gone since the period of use.  So many Confederate Enfields turn up missing their rear sights that some of us have begun to speculate that the Confederate soldiers must have removed them.  They would have done this to improve the accuracy of the gun and to gain the advantage of windage.  It is actually easier than you think.  Your brain makes the decisions for you as you change your sight picture, depending on the distance and wind conditions to target.  

Also, you will note the name carved on the right side of the butt stock of this gun.  It looks like it was carved by a semi-literate soldier.  A. P. Stake was a private in the 12th Regiment of Alabama Infantry.  He served in Company A of that regiment.  Now there are a couple of guys listed in the Union Army with a similar name but this is no Northern gun.  Northern soldiers rarely carved their names in their guns and never removed the rear sights from them.  This is a very nice Confederate contract P-53 identified to a member of the 12th Alabama Infantry. 

The 12th Alabama Infantry was a part of Rhodes Brigade and later in D. H. Hill's Division.  Like most Alabama regiments in the Army of Northern Virginia, it fought in everything.  At Gettysburg, it was on the extreme left and pushed the enemy through the town on the first day.  It supported the grand assault and as the Confederate Army retreated from Gettysburg, it covered the rear.  The unit laid down its arms at Appomattox.  Of the original 1,196 men, about 50 surrendered at Appomattox.  Of the 321 recruits it gained during the war, about 70 were present.  That pretty much says it all.  Price $6,750.  SOLD!!