Original U.S. Civil War Era Springfield Model 1835 Percussion Converted Artillery Short Musket by Harpers Ferry - Dated 1840

Original item: Only One Available. The U.S. Model 1835 Musket was a .69 caliber smoothbore flintlock, with a 42-inch barrel and an overall length of 58 inches. It replaced the previous model 1822 musket, and often is viewed as a further development of that design. It was really only an incremental change, and many differences involved how the musket was produced, rather than the actual design. The emphasis was on making some interchangeable parts, and to use more accurate manufacturing methods. This paved the way for the later model of 1842, the first U.S. musket to have fully interchangeable parts.

The Model 1835 was produced by the Springfield Armory, Harpers Ferry Armory, and numerous other contractors. It was eventually superseded by the model 1840 and 1842 muskets, the former of which was originally made in Flintlock, but most were converted to percussion before they made it to the field. The 1842 was only made in percussion.

In the 1850s, many of the Flintlock Muskets in Arsenal were converted to Percussion, which was a much more reliable and water-resistant ignition system. This involved all variants of the Model of the 1816, which helped to standardize the types of ammunition carried by the soldiers in the field. This example looks to have been returned to a state or federal arsenal some point, and had the lock converted to a percussion lock, and the breech of the barrel removed, with a breech plug with a built in cap bolster installed. This is very similar to the conversions done just before the start of the Civil War by companies such as Henry E. Leman of Lancaster PA, Hewes and Phillips of Newark, NJ, and others. Additionally, at some point it was shortened by 10 inches into an "Artillery Short Musket", and the middle barrel band was removed. We were not able to see any markings on the breech plug indicating who did the conversion.

The lock is still marked with an American "Federal Eagle" / U.S. under of the hammer, and was produced at the United States Armory and Arsenal at Harpers Ferry itself, as indicated on the lock plate tail:

HARPERS
FERRY
1840

There are no remnants of the brass flash pan and the holes in the lock are plugged, definitely indicating an arsenal or contractor level conversion. The rifle side plate is bulged, not thin as it would be on the Model 1840, which identifies this as a last year of production Model 1835, made when the new Model was already being developed, probably to use up old parts. As mentioned previously, the markings on the breech of the barrel were removed during the conversion, and there are not any cartouches visible in the stock either.

The musket has a great service used look, with a lovely polished peppery patina on the barrel and many of the fittings from oxidation and subsequent cleaning. The hammer and lock plate show a mottled patina, withy no signs of major oxidation. The cap nipple cone is present and still in very good condition, and the cleanout on the right side of the cap bolster can still be removed easily for cleaning, though the slot is a bit deformed. The lock functions very well, holding correctly at half cock, and firing at full. We checked the bore, and it was not rifled as some examples were, and still measures out to about 0.695" at the muzzle, showing relatively heavy fouling and oxidation on the interior.

The stock is in really nice condition, with a lovely red brown finish and the normal scuffs, dings, dents and other damage from storage. There are some missing chunks around the butt plate, which has suffered a good amount of pit rusting. Most likely a good amount of wood was removed near it due to water exposure, which is why the wood is so far below the level of the butt plate. The front sling swivel was removed with the middle sling swivel, while the swivel on the trigger guard is still present, but stiff. There is an original cleaning rod installed, which looks to have had the threaded portion break off at some point.

A lovely service used example of an older musket converted for service in the 1850s and almost certainly used during the Civil War. Ready to research and display!

Specifications-

Year of Manufacture: 1840 - converted later
Caliber: .69"
Cartridge Type: Ball and Powder
Barrel Length: 32 Inches
Overall Length: 47 1/2 Inches
Action type: Side Action Percussion Lock
Feed System: Muzzle Loading

History of the Model 1835 Musket:

The War of 1812 had revealed many weaknesses in American muskets. The Model 1812 Musket was created in an attempt to improve both the design and manufacture of the musket. The Model 1816 made further improvements, and replaced the Model 1812. The Model 1812 had borrowed heavily from the design of the French Charleville model 1777 musket, and this design was retained for the Model 1816. The Model 1816 had a 42 inch long .69 caliber smoothbore barrel, similar to the Model 1812, but had a longer lock plate, a shorter trigger guard, and a longer bayonet than the Model 1812. The Model 1816 also had a more straight lined stock. The overall length of the weapon was 58 inches.

The Model 1816 musket was originally produced at the Harpers Ferry and Springfield Arsenals between 1816 and 1844. Around 675,000 were made, more than any other flintlock in U.S. history.

The Model 1816 was originally produced as a flintlock musket. Like many flintlock muskets, many of these were later converted to percussion cap, as the percussion cap system was much more reliable and weather resistant.

This model of Springfield musket was used by Texans during the Texas Revolution and by the US Army and militia during the Mexican-American War. During this conflict, the flintlock version of the Model 1816 was preferred by U.S. regular forces, due to percussion cap supply concerns.

It was also used during the early years of the American Civil War until around 1862.

Many improvements to the Model 1816 were made, producing the Model 1822, Model 1835, Model 1840, and Model 1842. U.S. Ordnance Department referred to these as different models, but in other U.S. government documents they are referred to as a continuation of the Model 1816. Modern histories are similarly inconsistent in the nomenclature of these weapons.

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