1842 Smoothbore Muskets

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Why is so difficult to find an 1842 Springfield smoothbore reproduction lately? Been looking, and all I find is the INDIAN muskets.....can't ever find a decent original. What gives?
 
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Can't speak for repros, but prices on originals seem to be high lately, heck all civil war seems to be high. I just saw a nice one with matching dates of 1846 go for $1600. It was in great shape too. Missed that one and I would have paid that price. All I can say is keeping watching, the right one will show up eventually.
 
Why is so difficult to find an 1842 Springfield smoothbore reproduction lately? Been looking, and all I find is the INDIAN muskets.....can't ever find a decent original. What gives?
I think the Italian manufacturers have just about given up on muzzleloading long guns except for an occasional run of the Trade Gun Fusil in 20 gauge.
The China Virus pretty much did a number on Italy since it is a busy air corridor between Italy and China. A lot of the old Italian garment and leather clothes and shoe manufacturers have been bought up by Chinese nationals.
Why is so difficult to find an 1842 Springfield smoothbore reproduction lately? Been looking, and all I find is the INDIAN muskets.....can't ever find a decent original. What gives?
The China Virus really hit Italy really hard. I don’t think the Italian replica makers and other businesses ever really recovered totally from losing so many of their skilled employees. The death toll in Italy was several times higher per capita than it was here. The Chinese government refused to close the Wuhan to Italy air corridor between Italy and China for political and financial reasons because Chinese nationals have bought up so many of the old-line garment and leather goods businesses. The Wuhan / Italy corridor was the only one China left open because their business men ( many of whom were virus carriers ) wanted to be able to travel at leisure between the two countries and the Italian government was afraid to say NO.
The Italians seem to have pretty much given up on making muzzleloading long guns except for occasional runs of their .62 smoothbore trade gun. After a long wait I finally snagged an unfired Armi Sport 1842 smoothbore musket 3 months ago and was darned glad / lucky to find it.

PS- Sorry about the double post. Something about my texts, and something weird going on between my phone, and it’s connection with this website makes it look like something I posted was lost for unknown reasons, so I compose another one. Later on, the missing one magically reappears. I believe the problem is on my end.
To complicate things I don’t know how to delete a post on this website.
Once again, my apologies.
 
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Would I be disappointed if I bought a Pedersoli 1816 conversion (which you can get at DGW) instead of the 1842? Were they used as much in the Civil War?
 
Would I be disappointed if I bought a Pedersoli 1816 conversion (which you can get at DGW) instead of the 1842? Were they used as much in the Civil War?
They were heavily used in the Civil War, but mostly in the very early part of the war.
 
After wanting an Armi Sport M1842 for years after hearing how nice they were, and not being able to find any just like you, I decided to just get an original:

View attachment 380049

I couldn’t be happier. Love it!
If I can find a good shooter under $2k this summer, I might go this route! Because I'm also looking into getting a custom fowler made too......
 
They were heavily used in the Civil War, but mostly in the very early part of the war.
I often wondered how much the 1816s were used in the CW. I have an original my dad found under the front porch of a two flat in Chicago in the late 1940s or early 1950s. He was helping some friends move and did a final check so nothing was left behind. The friends didn't know it was there and gave it to him. The lock is marked Harpers Ferry 1824, it was arsenal converted to percussion, and cut down in length about a foot. The metal is pretty pitted but I can still make out some rifling in the barrel so I think it was one of the muskets converted in the 1850s. I'll try to get some photos up.
 


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