Original U.S. Civil War Era Springfield Model 1842 Percussion Rifled Musket with Replaced Stock

Original item: One Only. The US Model 1842 Musket was a .69 caliber musket manufactured and used in the United States during the 19th Century. It was a continuation of the Model 1816 line of muskets but is generally referred to by its own model number rather than just a variant of the Model 1816. All of these muskets were 58 inches long, with a barrel around 42 inches in length.

The Model 1842 was the last U.S. smoothbore musket produced. Many features that had been retrofitted into the Model 1840 were standard on the Model 1842. The Model 1842 was the first U.S. musket to be produced with a percussion lock, though most of the Model 1840 flintlocks ended up being converted to percussion locks before reaching the field. The percussion cap system was vastly superior to the flintlock, being much more reliable and much more resistant to weather.

The Models 1840 & 1842 were made with thicker barrel walls, with the intention that they could be rifled later, and this example now has wide three groove rifling, correct for those converted at arsenal. It looks to have seen long use, with a peppery oxidized patina over the metalwork, and the stock has been completely replaced, easily noticeable as their are no band springs or inlets for them. This means that all of the bands stay in place by pressure only, but due to the stock being a replacement, they are fit quite tightly. The lock plate is marked with the correct American "Federal Eagle" / U.S. under of the hammer, however the marks on the tail of the lock plate indicating which arsenal it was made at are completely missing. We tried to compare the eagle with other examples to possibly find a correlation, however both Springfield and Harpers Ferry used several different eagles over the production run.

The rifle side plate is thin and not bulged, as typical of the Model 1842 Musket. Previous iterations had had a more pronounced side plate with a bulge in the middle. This musket looks to have seen moderate to heavy service during the war, resulting in powder burn on the barrel breech that has removed all of the original markings. As the stock is replaced, there are not any cartouches present.

With all iron mounts this .69 caliber rifled musket features metalwork in very nice patinated condition, though the ramrod under the barrel looks to be a period replacement. The butt plate "US" marking has been worn off and while the trigger guard sling swivel is still present, the one on the lower barrel band is missing. The lock still functions correctly, holding correctly at half cock and firing at full. We checked the bore, and the three groove rifling is readily apparent, showing light past fouling and oxidation overall, which looks to have been cleaned away. The replacement stock is lovely, with a wonderful finish. Really a great looking old musket that would look fantastic hanging on the wall.

A lovely re-stocked example of the of the first U.S. Musket made with the intention of being rifled, which was later rifled and probably saw service during the Civil War, ready to display!

Specifications:-

Year of Manufacture: 1842-1854
Caliber: .69"
Cartridge Type: Ball and Powder
Barrel Length: 42 Inches
Overall Length: 57 1/2 Inches
Action type: Side Action Percussion Lock
Feed System: Muzzle Loading

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