M1842 rifled Musket-opinions?

[Rick Davis]

I have a decent 69 cal minie bullet mold, but nothing to fire them out of. What is everyone's opinion & experiences with the 1842 Springfield rifled musket?

Example:[url] http://www.fcsutler.com/fcweapons.asp[/url] about 2/3 the way down.

Are there any alternatives short of ordering a custom .69 rifle?

 

[J.D.]

The 1842 was a smooth bored musket. Not a rifled musket. Read the decription closely you will see that this repo is also a smoothbore.

Rayl, or one of the custom barrel makers will probably make a rifled barrel contoured for that stock...for a price. You will, most likely, have to mount the sights. The barrel maker MIGHT mount the sights for a price.

Since I'm not aware of any commercially made 69 cal rifles, the only other aternative is to have a custom rifle made.

Conicals, of any kind do not normally shoot well out of smoothbores, so if you do get the 1842, the minnie mould still won't do you any good.

J.D.

 

[rice1817]

The one right below the smoothbore is a rifled .69 caliber M 1842. Can't help with the original question, though.

The ad reads as follows:

1842 Springfield Musket, Rifled, Armi Sport. .69 cal rifled bore. This is the coolest reproduction musket made. Prior to 1855, the army experimented with a rifled version of their long arms. There were 15,000 Springfields made with rifling, and of those, the Ladder style long range sight was placed on 10,000. When the conflict struck, many 1842 and 1816 muskets were rifled in the armories to accept a .69 minne ball. Oiled American walnut stock. Lock and barrel dated 1847. This is a very nice weapon for accuracy in a large caliber. Rifling has a 1-72" twist. Length of BBL 42" Overall Length 57 3/4". Weight 9.75 Lbs.
N-SSA Approved...... $595.00 *** 1/13/06

 

[Russianblood]

Springfield Model 1842 Rifled Musket:[url] http://www.dixiegunworks.com/product_info.php?cPath=22_92_186_191&products_id=3481[/url]

On sale at Dixie Gun Works for $550

 

[J.D.]

Ooops, I finally scrolled down far enough to see the rifled musket. Sorry 'bout that.

I would try to find out what the land-to land bore diameter is. Good accuracy from a rifled musket requires a bullet about .003 smaller than bore size.

Compare the bore diameter to the diameter of minies from your mould. If there is more than .005, or so difference in diameters, accuracy CAN suffer, depending on the size of the cavity in the hollow base and the thickness of the skirt.

I had an original 1842 smooth bore that was a hoot to shoot. I let someone talk me out of it many years ago, and I've been kicking myself ever since.
J.D.

 

[G. W. Gill]

I still have my original. It is a blast to shoot. 100ft-150ft good for rd ball. Keep it at 70grn. FF for ball and shot. Experiment for your load of shot. You have to try the 1842 out!. The Civil War generals in hindsight came to the conclusion that the civil war would ended a year or two prior to 1865 had they stuck with the 1842 and overwhelmed the South with out of date tactics and supply. Both sides tried it on the modern and suffered. Sad times. You will enjoy the weapon!

 

[Rick Davis]

Thanks J.D. & G.W. Gill. It's worse that I feared...I *need* one. No option for a test ride since I don't know anyone that has one. So, I will buy one. :winking:

 

[J.D.]

Good luck with the rifled musket. That puppy should put a deer down in its tracks.
J.D.

 

[varsity07840]

What style minie is it? The original style weighs around 730 gr. and is a real thumper with service loads. The Rapine wadcutter weighs about 500 gr and shoots very well out of my original '42 rifled with 70 gr of 2F. I'd stay with a minie that is sized .001-.002 smaller than bore size, however, odd number land and groove barrels can be a pain to mike for bore size. If your mould casts a minie that is too small, try paper patching it with the tail of the paper tucked into the cavity.

On the '42 the front sight is part of the front barrel band, which can move. You may have to use some shims to tighten it up. Once you do, avoid
removing the barrel. Also, like most rifled muskets, it will probably shoot high and you may have to fashion a higher front sight, or file down the rear sight leaf and cut a new notch. With the 2nd method, you can also take care of any windage problems. I soldered a higher front sight offset a bit to correct for windage since I didn't want to alter the original rear sight. If need be it'll come of easily.

None of the above is a criticism of the musket. I love mine and wish I got to shoot it more often. My understanding is that the Armi '42 is a well built musket and quite a bargin. Good luck with it.

Duane

 

[Rick Davis]

What style minie is it? The original style weighs around 730 gr. and is a real thumper with service loads. ...

I think this is it:[url] http://tinyurl.com/yhcpeb[/url]

And I do recall that a pound of lead only yields about 10 bullets from this mold, so that's about right. It is a traditional Minie shape, not a wadcutter or improved Minie. They measure 0.690", do you know what your barrel diameter is across the lands?

Thanks to everyone for the info, now I'm *really* chompin' at the bit.

 

[varsity07840]

If they mike a true .690 you'll probably need a sizing die. '42 bores usually are .687 to .690.
Armi says their bore is .690. My musket has a .687
bore and I shoot a minie sized to .685. Rapine can make you a die to whatever size you need, and he has an inexpensive press. His dies will not fit a Lyman press.

Duane

 

[54ball]

The 1 and 72" twist should give the best accuracy with a roundball. It being a .69 might make it shoot minnies very well. If you notice the smaller the caliber the tighter the twist even for roundballs. I've shot CW style minnies through a .54 with a 1 and 66" and they shot very well. A rule of thumb is a short conical does better than long ones in a roundball barrel. Also finding a load for your set up would be a fun challenge. Not only do you haft to consider varius charges but also the alloy of the lead. With too hard a ball the skirt may not open enough to grab the rifleling , to soft you may lead the barrel and deform the ball.I would error on to soft than to hard. Other varibles include paper patching, lubes, powders 2ffg and even 1fg in that large 69, and even over powder wads. Try different combinations to find your best load. It may be a tack driver with minnies. :grin:
P.S. A good friend of mine purshased two original muskets last year. Both were Harpers Ferry. Both were shootable. One was a 1816 percussion conversion the other is a 1842 rifled musket. The 1842 is marked CSA. A CW expert near Shiloh Tenn. liked to have died when he saw the rifle. It seems this gun may be a Texan conversion from musket to rifled musket. A gunsmith in Texas rifled a couple thousand 1842s for the Confederacy. It was one of those deals, I think he has about $800 in each piece.

 

[Wes/Tex]

P.S. A good friend of mine purshased two original muskets last year. Both were Harpers Ferry. Both were shootable. One was a 1816 percussion conversion the other is a 1842 rifled musket. The 1842 is marked CSA. A CW expert near Shiloh Tenn. liked to have died when he saw the rifle. It seems this gun may be a Texan conversion from musket to rifled musket. A gunsmith in Texas rifled a couple thousand 1842s for the Confederacy. It was one of those deals, I think he has about $800 in each piece.

Find the Texas connection interesting. Would guess either the armory at Tyler or possibly the gun shop in Bastrop, owned by Napoleon B. (got to be Boneparte, don't you think?) Tanner. The shop still exists and has a big marker out front of the building. Tanner is known to have done "rejuvination" of old guns before getting a contract from the state to make "Mississippi Rifles". The only known gun is an Enfield copy, so "Mississippi" had to be incorrect. He got into trouble by letting out the barrel work to a local blacksmith whose work was really sub-par. Would be great to know if that '42 was one of his pieces, for sure. :winking: