vmicraig
Sergeant
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2018
- Location
- Midlothian, VA
These are my 3 cadets - 1851, '52 and '53. The M-1851 Springfield Cadet Musket was one of a series of long arms specifically designed and manufactured at Springfield Armory between 1851-1853 for issuance by various states to their military schools. The M-1851 was issued to at least 8 southern states, including VA, AL, GA, KY, MS, NC, SC, TN, and one Yankee haven - NY.
The .57 cal cadet is a lighter, shorter scaled down version of the larger .69 caliber M1842 Springfield musket, and was specifically manufactured as a training arm for military school cadets at the dozens of military schools located nationwide. Although it was thought that West Point was a primary recipient, research indicates the smoothbore guns likely never made it to, nor were ever issued at West Point, since by the time West Point considered them for use by cadets, rifling had already become commonplace in arms manufacturing. West Point knew its cadets would need marksmanship schooling with newly rifled arms, thus it is believed the first 1851's received by West Point circa 1857-1858 were a post-production rifled variation of the 1853-stamped cadets that were taken directly from arsenal stock. According to Springfield Armory records, only 341 of the muskets were ever rifled, all from storage at the armory and not returns from the field. They were rifled with 3 grooves and added a long base, adjustable rear site of the same style and pattern used on the rifled and sighted US M-1842 muskets that were altered during the same time frame. In addition to the long-range rear site, a taller iron front site was added to the front strap of the upper barrel band, and the tip of the trumpet shaped ramrod was machined to be concave in order to accept Minié style conical ammunition.
2,840 Cadets were produced between fiscal years 1851 - 1852 (July 1, 1851 through June 30, 1852), with the first 300 in "brown". I'm envious of @Lanyard Puller, who has a beauty of a browned VMI model that he'll never part with! All Browns were date stamped 1851, with the remaining 2,540 in National Bright. All of the browned models were sent to VMI by order of Pres. Zachary Taylor, with an additional group of 200 (bright) sent shortly afterward (for 500 total). All those sent to VMI bore '51 lockplate stamps, with models stamped '52 and '53 split among the aforementioned states, or retained in storage at the Springfield Armory. In fiscal year 1853, another 1,160 were produced, for a grand total of 4,000 cadets. The browned 51's are the rarest, many having ended up in the Maury River after VMI was shelled and raided by Hunter's troops.
The barrel was 40" instead of 42", and the lock plate was from the smaller M-1847 family of percussion carbines, also called musketoons, which were slightly smaller than full sized musket locks. The stock was also proportionally reduced in overall size (mostly notably in the smaller buttstock and much slimmer wrist), and as already mentioned, the guns were produced in .57 caliber instead of .69 caliber.
The use of the "fiscal year" production system at the national armories helps to explain the fact that 1-year date mismatches between the lock and barrel of a musket are not uncommon.
The .57 cal cadet is a lighter, shorter scaled down version of the larger .69 caliber M1842 Springfield musket, and was specifically manufactured as a training arm for military school cadets at the dozens of military schools located nationwide. Although it was thought that West Point was a primary recipient, research indicates the smoothbore guns likely never made it to, nor were ever issued at West Point, since by the time West Point considered them for use by cadets, rifling had already become commonplace in arms manufacturing. West Point knew its cadets would need marksmanship schooling with newly rifled arms, thus it is believed the first 1851's received by West Point circa 1857-1858 were a post-production rifled variation of the 1853-stamped cadets that were taken directly from arsenal stock. According to Springfield Armory records, only 341 of the muskets were ever rifled, all from storage at the armory and not returns from the field. They were rifled with 3 grooves and added a long base, adjustable rear site of the same style and pattern used on the rifled and sighted US M-1842 muskets that were altered during the same time frame. In addition to the long-range rear site, a taller iron front site was added to the front strap of the upper barrel band, and the tip of the trumpet shaped ramrod was machined to be concave in order to accept Minié style conical ammunition.
2,840 Cadets were produced between fiscal years 1851 - 1852 (July 1, 1851 through June 30, 1852), with the first 300 in "brown". I'm envious of @Lanyard Puller, who has a beauty of a browned VMI model that he'll never part with! All Browns were date stamped 1851, with the remaining 2,540 in National Bright. All of the browned models were sent to VMI by order of Pres. Zachary Taylor, with an additional group of 200 (bright) sent shortly afterward (for 500 total). All those sent to VMI bore '51 lockplate stamps, with models stamped '52 and '53 split among the aforementioned states, or retained in storage at the Springfield Armory. In fiscal year 1853, another 1,160 were produced, for a grand total of 4,000 cadets. The browned 51's are the rarest, many having ended up in the Maury River after VMI was shelled and raided by Hunter's troops.
The barrel was 40" instead of 42", and the lock plate was from the smaller M-1847 family of percussion carbines, also called musketoons, which were slightly smaller than full sized musket locks. The stock was also proportionally reduced in overall size (mostly notably in the smaller buttstock and much slimmer wrist), and as already mentioned, the guns were produced in .57 caliber instead of .69 caliber.
The use of the "fiscal year" production system at the national armories helps to explain the fact that 1-year date mismatches between the lock and barrel of a musket are not uncommon.
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