M1842 Harpers Ferry

[BorderStateBill]

Greetings all, I stumbled upon this forum while looking for information on a recently acquired Harpers Ferry m1842. It is my first Civil War/pre-Civil War era musket. I read several similar posts, and this looks like the place to ask questions. I have attached several pictures. The lock is dated 1847. The tang/barrel has considerable pitting, but it appears dated 185 (last number all but gone). So I'm assuming parts were pieced together at some point, but there is probably no way of determining when. The butt plate I has both "US" and "F" markings. The hammer also has a "V" stamped on one side and possibly an "R" or "H" on the other. The barrel has the "VP" stamp as well as some other initials further up the barrel. Lastly, it has some initials carved in the stock. If anyone can provide any additional information on this model, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, and I look forward to exploring the forum.

Bill

 

[RSMorris]

Very nice looking. I have a M1842 dated 1855 Harpers Ferry. Is there any type of letter stamping in front of the trigger guard?

 

[BorderStateBill]

Very nice looking. I have a M1842 dated 1855 Harpers Ferry. Is there any type of letter stamping in front of the trigger guard?

Thanks. I didn't notice any stamping in front of the trigger guard. What would that tell you?

 

[RSMorris]

Thanks. I didn't notice any stamping in front of the trigger guard. What would that tell you?

That would tell you if it was a Confederate pickup off a battlefield. The Confederate Cleaning and Repair (C&R) is where they picked up weapons off a battlefield from the Union and/or their own and sent the weapons to be repaired at a Confederate armory. There would usually be like a "Q'" or "T" or any single letter a couple of inches in front of the trigger guard.

 

[JOHN42768]

Welcome, enjoy

 

[14NYSM]

Pitting around the cone and cone seat is very common due to the corrosive action of the percussion primers. In your post, you did not indicate if it is a straight M1842, or modified with rifling and rear sight. Have you checked the bore? When you insert the ramrod,does it go down to the right depth or is it possibly still loaded? Some battlefield pick-ups were brought home as souvenirs still loaded.
the M1842 musket is well balanced and easy to hold. It looks like you have a good well-used combat-proven specimen!

 

[BorderStateBill]

Pitting around the cone and cone seat is very common due to the corrosive action of the percussion primers. In your post, you did not indicate if it is a straight M1842, or modified with rifling and rear sight. Have you checked the bore? When you insert the ramrod,does it go down to the right depth or is it possibly still loaded? Some battlefield pick-ups were brought home as souvenirs still loaded.
the M1842 musket is well balanced and easy to hold. It looks like you have a good well-used combat-proven specimen!

Thanks for the info. It is smooth bore with no rear sight. Unfortunately, the ram rod is not complete. It appears to be broken off about 3/4 of the way (were they threaded on the end). I didn't even think about it being possibly loaded… do you know of any other way to check that (aside from firing it)?

 

[RSMorris]

Since the ramrod isn't long enough, from where the breech plug screws inmeasure to the muzzle. Find a long piece of rod, metal, wood doesn't matter. place it down the barrel until it stops. make a mark on the rod at the muzzle, pull out the rod and place it along the barrel with the mark you made lined up with the muzzle end. If the rod goes all the way to the end of the barrel there is nothing in it. If it doesn't, something is in there.

 

[Seduzal]

Welcome to CWT from the Smoky Mountain side of North Carolina. Just jump right in and enjoy. To get a better overview of these form you can look here: https://civilwartalk.com/forums/