Why Reconvert to Flintlock?

[Johnny676767]

Hello,
I have been looking to purchase a flintlock musket since I don't have one yet. Hopefully a Harpers Ferry, but that's a different thread.

While looking at listings and auctions, I've seen a lot of muskets "reconverted" to flintlock. Is this done for collecting purposes (like piecing a musket together) or was there a practical reason?

I'm assuming this really affects value. Also, how can you tell? I'm trying to match styles (lock/stock) and look at the fit of the lock itself. Any other advice?

Thanks

 

[johan_steele]

The reasoning was varied. Many arms were reconverted to flintlock in the 19th century for the African trade. Others were reconverted in the 20th century for Fur Trade & other re-enactors. As well as the burgeoning collectors market.

Several years ago I handled an original that I believed had been only lightly over cleaned that was in exquisite shape. I saw no obvious evidence of the reconversion. But the young man on inheriting it and close inspection noted a very slight difference in patina and being a very honest lad opted to send it to Lodgewood. Dave Stavlo verified it was a conversion by putting a bore scope down and inspected her from the inside discovering evidence of a drum conversion.

That about halved the value but she is still an absolutely beautiful M1816 that will be up on Lodgewood at some point for what I believe to be a reasonable price.

 

[rob63]

Look very carefully at the breech and particularly the area around the touch hole. Percussion caps were very corrosive, so if the percussion version was shot at all there was usually a fair amount of corrosion there. The reconversion will either have too much corrosion on the breech or it will show evidence that it has been altered to remove it. This alone will help you spot most of them, but as Johan indicated, some of them are extremely hard to tell.

Another thing worth keeping in mind is that when they did the percussion conversions, they did the most modern and best condition muskets at the time. Consequently, it is actually easier to find an original flint among the older muskets made before the Model 1816.

 

[Jeff in Ohio]

As Johan Steele says, some percussion guns were converted to flintlock back at the time they were in use.
I do not believe this was done to US Muskets such as the Harper's Ferry you are wanting to buy, or, for that matter, the Springfield manufactured ones.
These reconversions you are seeing in those listings were done by collectors or folks who planned to sell to collectors who wanted flintlocks and not percussion conversions. When you are looking for the later flintlocks made in the 1830s and the early 1840s, most of these were converted to percussion at the armory, sometimes even before they were ever issued, and so they are rare in flintlock. Many of these are still in good shape (never used as flintlocks, and then not popular with troops after conversion to percussion, and so it is real common to find these muskets dated 1838-1844 have been reconverted by a collector in recent times.
The standard advice is that a musket converted from flintlock to percussion is worth 50% of the price of a flintlock, and that when someone re-converts such a musket back to flintlock lock, it is worth no more than what is was worth as a percussion conversion. So, an original fintlock might be worth $2,000, and if converted to percussion, worth $1,000, and if reconverted to flintlock, still worth not much more than $1,000.
That may not be correct advice, but it is about what you will find as a rule of thumb.

 

[bayonet]

On some you can notice a faint circle around the touch hole as evidence it was reconverted back to flint. Jeff it gets worse on the prices. A recent auction that just ended had several Rev War French muskets but they admitted they had been reconverted. So instead of catching a price of $4000 to maybe $7000 or more they went for $2000 or less.