Edward Maynard

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Edward Maynard : biography

April 26, 1813 – 1891

Production

The Springfield Armory manufactured a sample Maynard carbine in .48 caliber and it was tested in May 1856. The gun, fired at ranges from 100 to 500 yards, was considered the best breechloader tested. Subsequently the cartridge’s powder charge was raised from 30 to 40 grains, loaded behind a 343-grain lubricated bullet.

Maynard and some financial backers founded the Maynard Arms Company in 1857, contracting the Massachusetts Arms Company to manufacture the new gun for civilian and military use. Maynards were offered in .35 and .50 caliber, and could be purchased with interchangeable smoothbore shotgun barrels. A second army test resulted in a military contract for 400 .50 caliber Maynard carbines, with the original long-range aperture tang sight replaced with a barrel mounted open sight. The Revenue Cutter Service (later the United States Coast Guard) and United States Navy ordered smaller numbers.

The Maynard was highly praised in frontier service, but only four U.S. regiments appear to have been armed with the First Model Maynard during the American Civil War. Between 1861 and 1863 only the 1st (later 4th) U.S., 9th Pennsylvania, and 1st Wisconsin Cavalry received the gun. This may have been because the Massachusetts Arms Company’s factory burned down in January 1861. Rebuilt by 1863 the factory began producing 20,000 of the simpler Second Model Maynard carbines for the U.S. government but deliveries did not begin until June 1864, continuing through May 1865. As a result few of the Second Model Maynards saw service, although some reached the 9th and 11th Indiana regiments and the 11th Tennessee Cavalry.

Some Southern states, however, had purchased Maynards for their state militias in late 1860 and early 1861. About 3000 Maynards were in Southern hands during the war, mostly in Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi units. The First Model Maynard was listed as an official firearm in Confederate ordnance manuals. The Maynard had a good reputation for long range accuracy and Confederate sharpshooters made extensive use of it, especially during the Siege of Charleston.

Maynard cartridges were easily manufactured in the Confederacy, in contrast to the complex internally primed rimfire cartridges of captured Spencer and Henry rifles. The Maynard was easily adaptable to these newer cartridges and it was one of the few patent breechloaders to survive the Civil War. It continued in production as a highly regarded centerfire target and hunting rifle until 1890.