Springfield M1840 (percussion conversion)

[Lead Snowstorm]

Greetings all,

Well, this turned into a very good week for me indeed. After scoring the 1845-dated M1842 in my last thread, I happened to look in on gunbroker and noticed that one of the big sellers had finally decided to offload some inventory. This seller tends to frustrate me a bit, because their listings absolutely dominate any antique US military longarm search, but their prices are (IMHO) usually around 2 times actual market value. So I usually have to filter through their offerings looking for gems. However, they can't be dismissed entirely out of hand, because after a couple of years of having a piece languish on the various marketplaces, they will occasionally run a no-reserve penny auction to get stuff out the door.

This musket happened to be one I'd kept my eye on. Heretofore it had been wildly overpriced, but once I saw it had been reposted as an auction I followed closely and eventually won it for a little less than half the price"buy it now" price. Without further ado, the pics; if there are any details you want to see that I haven't shown, let me know. In particular, I would welcome any thoughts/opinions/leads on researching the "Company I" buttstock engraving.

 

[UCVRelics]

Very Nice musket. Thanks for sharing it with us.

 

[rob63]

I really like that one, very nice!

 

[Story]

In particular, I would welcome any thoughts/opinions/leads on researching the "Company I" buttstock engraving.

Carefully, gently take the buttplate off and see if anything's written in pencil on the base of the stock?

 

[Story]

What's the hive consensus on what these letters are?

Clearly the first is J and the last is L

 

[bayonet]

Nice! Always said auctions are the way to go. Bid low 20-30 times and lose but then BAM!!! You got it. My collection has many items I picked up at auction for 2 to 6 times below the value, some rare items too. Normally I'd keep quiet on this so you Folks don't bid against me but my office is running out of wall space. So my collecting days are nearing an end.
Happy Bidding!

 

[Lead Snowstorm]

What's the hive consensus on what these letters are?

Clearly the first is J and the last is L
View attachment 527765​

Those letters definitely have me scratching my head. I believe it to be JdL. The lowercase d is unusual, for initials, so I thought it might be some sort of unit given the Co. I inscription. Alternatively I'm wondering if it's a French/Dutch name with a d' or de- prefix, i.e. (to make something up completely) "John deLong."

I have been looking closely to see if I think there is actually a cross-stroke connecting the putative d to the L. I'm not sure one way or the other yet.

I will try to take the buttplate off timeline this weekend and let yall know if there's anything underneath.

 

[Story]

JdHL?

Without further data points to navigate, the insane answer would be to cross-reference all Regiments issued M1842s and look at all the Last Name "L" / First Name "J" fellows, to see if they had any in Company I.

As I said, insane answer.

 

[JOHN42768]

I'm thinking the J and L no question. The o also appears to be part of original carving. The making of the o into a d looks to be done at a later date. IMHO " Jo L"

 

[Story]

I'm thinking the J and L no question. The o also appears to be part of original carving. The making of the o into a d looks to be done at a later date. IMHO " Jo L"

I can also see a J oH L

 

[JOHN42768]

I can also see a J oH L

The bar carved to make an H is also of a later addition then original JoLto my eyes

 

[Story]

The bar carved to make an H is also of a later addition then original JoLto my eyes

Perhaps but failing to pursue the possibility that it's contemporaneous dismisses a line of research that could well lead to an answer.

And we know that's not the right thing to do.

 

[Conquerordie]

I agree the J and L are the original, and everything else added later. Its not the same style, more scratched in than carved into the stock.

 

[JOHN42768]

I agree the J and L are the original, and everything else added later. Its not the same style, more scratched in than carved into the stock.

The wood colorization of the J,o and L appears to be all the same finish where as the vertical line and horizontal bar are much lighter. All speculation on my part.

 

[JOHN42768]

Perhaps but failing to pursue the possibility that it's contemporaneous dismisses a line of research that could well lead to an answer.

And we know that's not the right thing to do.

Only stating my opinion. No horse in the race. I would just prioritize my research starting with my strongest guess and then check on other possibilities. . And it is only a guess.

 

[bayonet]

What you guys never carved your name & a sweetheart initials into a tree or something? The J is for Janet and the L for Larry. Then she divorced him and took him for everything. The only thing he got was the musket, so the d in the middle stands for divorced!

 

[Lead Snowstorm]

In particular, I would welcome any thoughts/opinions/leads on researching the "Company I" buttstock engraving.

Carefully, gently take the buttplate off and see if anything's written in pencil on the base of the stock?

Unfortunately nothing written; the only things are an "HJ" stamp and (per Johns' book) the holes from the Blanchard Tracing Lathe. The "HJ" is also attested in Johns, but in the lock mortise, ascribed to Horace Jerome.

 

[Jeff in Ohio]

With a deeply carved company ID and some initials in the wood, why would a soldier pencil ID under a butt plate?

 

[Lead Snowstorm]

No luck so far with the carving, but a cool little detail mentioned in Johns' book that tells a little more of the story. In 1851 the vast majority of M1840 flintlock muskets were converted to percussion - of the some-odd 30K produced, almost 27K were converted in 1851 at Springfield Armory. During that process, the stock, barrel, and breechplug were numbered. Johns' example shows "11" markings on these parts; I found "14" on each of the pieces in my piece.

A little hard to see on the stock, but I promise (!) I decided it was 14 *before* dismounting the barrel:

Sure enough:

For fun, the inside of the lock and mortise: