Nipple Key

[Ralph Heinz]

Can someone identify this nipple key? One identical to it was dug up at Petersburg and for sale on Ebay recently and it was extremely rusted. The one I have does not fit the nipples on an 1861 Springfield or a P53 Enfield (or other Springfields or Enfields) but it does fit the smaller nipple used on an 1841 Miss. rifle. It is 3" long but the key area is too large to fit the nipples on a Beaumont-Adams or Colt. It won't fit into the recess where the nipples are.

 

[johan_steele]

I've seen it identified as a Brit made wrench for the Enfield but I don't believe that to be correct instead believing it to be a civilian made. It isn't all that rare either; I own one and have seen a dozen over the years.

 

[Jobe Holiday]

The "nipple wrench" shown is like those made by the Bridgeport Gun Implement Company, of Bridgeport Conn. As a nipple wrench it would be a civilian item.

But, it is also the same as another old household tool, the "Radiator Key"! Steam heat radiators were in use in homes in the U.S. prior to the American Civil War. Those old cast iron steam radiators each had a valve which was controlled with a "Key" often like the one shown. The fancier homes would often have a key that was of a more decorative pattern and quite often nickel plated, which would be post-war. Hard to say exactly which one it is.
J.

 

[Ralph Heinz]

It may well be a civilian item for percussion rifles since they use the smaller size nipples which my M1841 also uses. I do have tools for Springfields and a No. 1 privates "Y" tool for Enfields. The square opening for the Enfield and Springfield nipples is larger and the diameter of the nipple itself is larger for musket caps.

The fact that this odd tool does fit the Mississippi rifle's nipple made me wonder if it was possibly a military item dating from the Mexican war. I haven't seen any source that identified it specifically. Certainly the army had nipple wrenches at that time. The fact that one was dug at Petersburg got my interest. There were certainly a number of militia units armed with M41 rifles at the start of the war though by Petersburg I would think Springfields and Enfields would have replaced the older arms and photos of Conf. dead there show P53 Enfields.

 

[johan_steele]

It isn't an M1841 tool as there was a tool designed for the M1841 & M1842 arms. It is in The bottom left of the display box shown earlier.

 

[UCVRelics]

Interesting. Could you post photos of the tool end and maybe some micrometer measurements across opening maybe that will help with the id. It appears to be to small for enfield or springfield.

 

[Jobe Holiday]

Ralph Heinz - Perhaps the nipple in your Mississippi isn't the original type. I just checked several examples and the Mississippi nipples are the same as those used in the 1842 and 1861 model muskets.
J.

 

[Package4]

I've see quite a few muskets, that I assume were used for hunting after the war, use a smaller pistol nipple (#11?). They were cheaper and did the same job. The 1841 definitely used the same nipple as the '42, '55, '61 & '63. I have seen that type of tool many times, at gun shows and never really paid much attention to it, I always thought it was a Kentucky/Pennsylvania long rifle tool, as I would see them with patch cutters.

 

[Ralph Heinz]

I've owned a couple 1841 rifles over the years. The one I have now I pulled the original nipple and the threaded section has a diameter of .259" and it fits tight. I have another old nipple I pulled from a second M1841 (it was smashed down from dry firing) and I mic'd the threads on it and they too were approximately .259." I replaced it decades ago. The one I have now is a hard-used Southern rifle with carved initials and the wood behind the nipple burned out clear down to the screw holding the lock plate. The lock plate is marked N. Haven over 1851 and E. Whitney over US. The barrel bears Harpers Ferry proofs so it was switched during the period of use. There is no US on the butt plate. The smaller nipple is why the tool shown works on them.

It used to be possible at gun shows many years ago to pick up original old stock nipples in different sizes so I kept a few in case I got a rifle that had the nipple smashed and unusable.

I have an extra original nipple for Springfields and the threads mic .308" and one for an Enfield and it mics .309." They have a different number of threads per inch. There is NO way that these larger nipples will fit in the smaller threaded hole for the .259" nipple in the same way that you can't park a Hummer in a spot for a VW. Obviously, no one removed a much larger nipple and replaced it with a smaller one when the threaded hole would have been too large. Musket caps would fall right off those smaller nipples as they were meant for the same caps used on civilian rifles. Many pioneers carried these and other US arms across the plains as Congress authorized the sale of arms from US Armories at cost to those traveling to Oregon, Santa Fe, and Calif.

Perhaps different contract makers began providing these M1841 rifles at some time for the govt. with larger nipples for musket caps in order to standardize all US rifles and muskets for the larger musket caps. That would make sense.

I appreciate the information on BGI carrying those nipple keys. I don't know if Fourteen Old Gun Catalogs has a BGI ad in it but I'll have to look.

 

[Package4]

I've owned a couple 1841 rifles over the years. The one I have now I pulled the original nipple and the threaded section has a diameter of .259" and it fits tight. I have another old nipple I pulled from a second M1841 (it was smashed down from dry firing) and I mic'd the threads on it and they too were approximately .259." I replaced it decades ago. The one I have now is a hard-used Southern rifle with carved initials and the wood behind the nipple burned out clear down to the screw holding the lock plate. The lock plate is marked N. Haven over 1851 and E. Whitney over US. The barrel bears Harpers Ferry proofs so it was switched during the period of use. There is no US on the butt plate. The smaller nipple is why the tool shown works on them.

It used to be possible at gun shows many years ago to pick up original old stock nipples in different sizes so I kept a few in case I got a rifle that had the nipple smashed and unusable.

I have an extra original nipple for Springfields and the threads mic .308" and one for an Enfield and it mics .309." They have a different number of threads per inch. There is NO way that these larger nipples will fit in the smaller threaded hole for the .259" nipple in the same way that you can't park a Hummer in a spot for a VW. Obviously, no one removed a much larger nipple and replaced it with a smaller one when the threaded hole would have been too large. Musket caps would fall right off those smaller nipples as they were meant for the same caps used on civilian rifles. Many pioneers carried these and other US arms across the plains as Congress authorized the sale of arms from US Armories at cost to those traveling to Oregon, Santa Fe, and Calif.

Perhaps different contract makers began providing these M1841 rifles at some time for the govt. with larger nipples for musket caps in order to standardize all US rifles and muskets for the larger musket caps. That would make sense.

I appreciate the information on BGI carrying those nipple keys. I don't know if Fourteen Old Gun Catalogs has a BGI ad in it but I'll have to look.

In 1845 the US Military standardized on the nipple size for all percussion muskets being produced, it might be possible that you had a '41 that was produced prior. I have also heard of nipples being filed down to fit the #11 size cap for pistols, since the caps were much less expensive. A soldier who went back to subsistence farming would have very little to spend and every cent counted.