U.S. Contract patent breech. Rock Island Auction Company
The bolster-style. Private contractors carried out this conversion, which was deemed necessary to structurally strengthen muskets converted to rifled muskets, from around the mid-1850s to the early months of the Civil War. All external parts were removed from the lock, and holes filled. Two variations then occurred: the barrel was cut off near the breech, the bore was threaded, and a new breech with integral nipple bolster was screwed in; or, a bolster was brazed over the touch hole. A new hammer completed the alteration.
| GOOD–$700 | FINE–$1,300 |
FRENCH MODEL 1822 MUSKET, .69/.71 CALIBER, PAPER CARTRIDGE, PERCUSSION
Made by royal arsenals at Tylle, Charleville, Mutzig and St. Etienne and copied by Liege manufacturers, ca. 1822-ca. 1842. Total imported: Unknown, but Union records show over 147,000 French and Belgium muskets were purchased.
Overall length: Type Type I, 58"
Type II, 55-4/5".
Muzzleloader, single shot.
Lock plate markings reflect arsenals where manufactured. The barrel tang is engraved with the model designation, “M 1822” and year of manufacture. Liege-made examples have only the year of manufacture proof marks. A “T” will follow the model number on weapons altered in French arsenals. French barrels may also be stamped with the date of alteration and caliber in millimeters in addition to the usual proof marks.
French regular line infantry carried the longer, Type I Model 1822 muskets. Voltiguers (light infantry) carried the shorter, Type II muskets. Both were originally configured as smoothbore, flintlock muskets, but were later converted to percussion by replacing the hammer and inserting a cone directly in the top of the barrel and plugging the vent or by brazing a bolster over the vent. Many were rifled and received long-range rear sights at the same time. Union gun buyers purchased at least 147,000 French and Belgian muskets during the Civil War. However, their records do not indicate model designations, making it impossible to know exactly how many Model 1822 muskets made it to the United States. The U.S. Ordnance Department rated French and Belgian smoothbore muskets as 3rd class. No record of Confederate purchases is known.
| BOTH TYPES: GOOD–$350 | FINE–$900 |
FRENCH MODEL 1842 MUSKET, .70/.71 CALIBER, PAPER CARTRIDGE, PERCUSSION
Made by French royal and Imperial arsenals and copied by Liege manufacturers, ca. 1842-ca. 1855. Total imported: Unknown, but Union records show over 147,000 French and Belgium muskets were purchased.
Overall length: Type I, 58-1/4".
Type II, 56".
Muzzleloader, single shot.
Lock plate markings reflect arsenals where manufactured. Between 1848 and 1852, French lock plates are inscribed with “Mre. Nle. de” followed by a city name. After 1852, this was changed to “Mre. Impale. de” followed by the city name. The barrel tang is engraved with the model designation, “M 1842” and year of manufacture. Liege-made examples have only the year of manufacture proof marks. A “T” will follow the model number on weapons altered in French arsenals. French barrels may also be stamped with the date of alteration and caliber in millimeters in addition to the usual proof marks.
Originally configured as smoothbore muskets, the Model 1842 was the first percussion long arm that the French Army adopted. French regular line infantry carried the longer, Type I Model 1842 muskets. Voltiguers (light infantry) carried the shorter, Type II muskets. The Model 1842 can be recognized by its back-action lock. All iron fittings are bright Many Model 1842 were subsequently rifled and received long-range sights. Union gun buyers purchased at least 147,000 French and Belgian muskets during the Civil War. However, their records do not indicate model designations making it impossible to know exactly how many Model 1842 muskets made it to the United States. The U.S. Ordnance Department rated French and Belgian smoothbore muskets as 3rd class. No record of Confederate purchases is known.
| BOTH TYPES: GOOD–$350 | FINE–$900 |
MORSE “INSIDE LOCK” MUSKET, .69 CALIBER, PAPER CARTRIDGE, PERCUSSION
Made by George W. Morse, Greenville, South Carolina, ca. 1863-1864. Total production: Fewer than 200.
Overall length: 53-3/4".
Muzzleloader, single shot.
Lower brass trigger tang stamped, “MORSE’S LOCK / STATE WORKS / GREENVILLE, S.C.” together with a serial number. The date (for example, “1863”) is stamped on the brass finial in front of the trigger bow.
The three-band, smoothbore musket incorporate a centrally located lock mechanism inside the stock. A shaft runs horizontally through the lock, terminating at an oval brass plate on the left side of the stock and attached to the hammer on the right.
| GOOD–$25,000 | FINE–$65,000 |
MECHANICAL AND AUTO PRIMING PERCUSSION CONVERSIONS
D uring the 1840s and 1850s there was a rush to produce efficient and affordable percussion conversion systems for the thousands of flintlock muskets in federal arsenals. Designers proposed mechanical priming systems as time-savers by eliminating the need to manually place a percussion cap on the cone. In practice, these systems were troubled and none, other than the Maynard Tape Primer, received wide acceptance.
BUTTERFIELD DISC PRIMER
The Butterfield primer consisted of a tube mounted to the center of the lock plate. The tube held tiny fulminate detonation discs. Internal mechanisms permitted a disc to be placed on the nipple when the user cocked the hammer.
Jesse Butterfield received a contract to convert 5,000 arms with this system in 1859. Deliveries, however, were very limited. Converted weapons were usually marked on the lock plate, forward of the hammer, “BUTTERFIELD’S / PATENT DEC. 11, 1855 / PHILADA”.
| GOOD–$2,500 | FINE–$8,000 |
James D. Julia Auctioneers, Fairfield, Maine
MAYNARD TAPE PRIMER
The Maynard device is quickly recognized from the door placed on the lock plate forward of the hammer. To accommodate the mechanism, a special humped-shape hammer had to be used. The Maynard system fed a narrow strip of varnished paper with spots of fulminate at regular intervals.
Remington Arms Co. fulfilled a contract for the conversion of 20,000 U.S. Model 1816 muskets to the Maynard system between 1856-1859. The contract also called for the muskets to be rifled and receive long-range sights. The lock plates on these conversions are stamped, “REMINGTON’S / ILION, N.Y. / [date] / N.Y.” Some are known to be marked “HERKIMER” instead of “ILION”.
| GOOD–$900 | FINE–$1,850 |