Standard Catalog of Civil War Firearms. John F. Graf
near the muzzle. There was no rear sight; the forward sight was a brass blade on the upper barrel band. The butt plate was flat and 4-1/2" long. Many U.S. Model 1842 Muskets were rifled and equipped with long-range rear sights after 1855, and redesignated the U.S. Model 1842 Rifled Musket.
| GOOD–$950 | FINE–$2,750 |
U.S. MODEL 1842 MUSKET, B. FLAGG & COMPANY CONTRACT, .69 CALIBER, PAPER CARTRIDGE, PERCUSSION
Manufactured by B. Flagg & Co., Millbury, Massachusetts, 1849. Total production: at least 640.
Overall length: 57-3/4". Weight: approximately 9 lbs. 3 oz.
Muzzleloader, single shot.
Eagle over “U.S.” on lock plate in front of hammer; “B. FLAGG & CO. / MILLBURY / MASS. / 1849” vertically on lock plate to rear of hammer (“1849” is marked horizontally on some specimens); “US” in italics on butt plate tang; serial number on butt plate tang, top of each band, and top of barrel near breech.
Benjamin Flagg’s version of the U.S. Model 1842 Musket was a virtual copy of the government-manufactured original. The musket had a short production run, evidently during only 1849, and South Carolina purchased 640 stands the following year. The lock plates of some specimens have a nonstandard shape, in which the surface forward of the percussion cap bolster cutout continues at about the same, nearly horizontal angle as the bolster cutout, but slightly below its level. This extension was beveled like most of the rest of the plate.
| GOOD–$1,200 | FINE–$3,800 |
U.S. MODEL 1842 MUSKET, PALMETTO ARMORY CONTRACT, .69 CALIBER, PAPER CARTRIDGE, PERCUSSION
James D. Julia Auctioneers, Fairfield, Maine
Manufactured by Palmetto Armory, Columbia, South Carolina, 1852-53. Total production: at least 6,020.
Overall length: 57-3/4". Weight: approximately 9 lbs. 3 oz.
Muzzleloader, single shot.
“PALMETTO ARMORY S*C” in a circle around a palmetto tree, on lock plate to front of hammer; “COLUMBIA / S.C. 1852” vertically on lock plate to rear of hammer; “V / P / [palmetto tree]” proof mark on barrel near breech; “SC” on tang of butt plate.
In April 1851 the Palmetto Armory secured a contract with South Carolina to produce 6,000 copies of the U.S. Model 1842 Musket. The armory completed the contract by the end of 1853, on machinery purchased from Benjamin Flagg’s factory in Millbury, Massachusetts, that had previously been used to manufacture the A. H. Waters and B. Flagg versions of the U.S. Model 1842 Musket. The Palmetto Armory version was very similar to the standard U.S. model, with variations in some examples including brass barrel bands instead of iron and a bayonet stud on top of the barrel rather than the bottom. In addition, some examples had long-range rear sights or browned barrels.
| GOOD–$3,500 | FINE–$7,000 |
U.S. MODEL 1842 A. H. WATERS CONTRACT MUSKET, .69 CALIBER, TYPE I (STANDARD BUTT PLATE), PAPER CARTRIDGE, PERCUSSION.
Made by A. H. Waters & Co., Milbury, Massachusetts, ca. 1844. Total production: probably over 100.
Overall length: 57-3/4". Weight: approximately 10 lbs. 4 oz.
Muzzleloader, single shot.
“A. H. WATERS & CO. / MILBURY, MASS” vertically on lock plate behind hammer; eagle and italic “US” on lock plate to front of hammer; “V”, “P”, and eagle head on barrel near breech.
This musket was produced by the private armory of Asa H. Waters in a very small quantity, probably in or after 1844. The locks were unhardened iron, flat with a beveled edge. The browned barrel was 42" long. Some examples had all-iron furniture, like the U.S. Model 1842 Musket, while others had all-brass furniture. The Type I musket had a standard butt plate, and the Type II a heavily textured brass “Sea Fencible” butt plate.
| GOOD–$950 | FINE–$3,400 |
U.S. “NAVY CONTRACT” MUSKET, .69 CALIBER, PAPER CARTRIDGE, PERCUSSION
Manufactured by A. H. Waters, Millbury, Massachusetts, and Eli Whitney, Jr., New Haven, Connecticut, ca. 1817–36; alterations ca. 1842–51. Total production: unknown.
Overall length: 57-11/16". Weight: 9 lbs. 15 oz.
Muzzleloader, single shot.
Waters version: “US / A WATERS” on lock plate to front of hammer; “MILLBURY / [year]” on lock plate to rear of hammer. Whitney version: “U.S. / [crossed arrow and olive branch] / E. WHITNEY” on lock plate in front of hammer; “NEW / HAVEN / [year]” on lock plate to rear of hammer.
At some point, probably between around 1842 and 1851, one or more arsenals or contractors altered an unknown number of U.S. Model 1816 flintlock muskets, .69 caliber. These muskets incorporate the “cone,” or “Belgian” percussion system, with a nipple set directly on the breech instead of on a bolster, as well as a heavy, curved, brass butt plate (some iron plates have been reported) with a prominent protrusion at the heel. Since the butt plate was noticeably narrower than the stock version, the butt stock was correspondingly narrowed. Various sources have designated this alteration as a “Navy Contract,” “Sea Fencible,” or “Massachusetts Militia” musket.
| GOOD–$950 | FINE–$3,400 |
CHAPTER 2 RIFLED MUSKETS
It is easy to confuse the terms “rifled musket,” “rifle-musket,” “rifle,” and “musket.” So easy, in fact, that the terms were often used interchangeably during the Civil War—and still are today among collectors!
In an effort to equip armies with modern arms, the practice of rifling smoothbore muskets emerged in the 1840s. A smoothbore musket that was subsequently rifled is referred to as a “rifled musket.”
U.S. armories undertook rifling smooth-bore muskets during the 1855s, but these efforts were never really maximized until the prospect of civil war loomed. In February 1861, Colonel of Ordnance H.K. Craig reported that there were 24,300 .69 Model 1822 muskets altered to percussion at the Kennebec Arsenal and more than 100,000 .69 Model 1842 muskets (“much superior to the altered arms”) at other arsenals. Furthermore, he explained to his superior, Secretary of War J. Holt, that preparations to rifle the latter had been begun but were suspended by the Secretary’s predecessor in the late 1850s. He promised Lincoln’s government that the work would immediately recommence.
Meanwhile, northern and southern buyers scoured European arsenals and armories hoping to find quality weapons to purchase and import. The European governments had undertaken the similar strategy of rifling old smoothbore muskets. However, as the European gun manufacturer’s delivered stocks of newly made rifle-muskets and rifles, the old rifled muskets were retired to the gun racks. In most cases, these are the weapons the American buyers were able to purchase.
Rifled muskets remained in the hands of troops right up until the end of the Civil War.