U.S. Model 1842 Rifled Musket

A question came up on one of the internet forums about the U.S. Model 1842 smoothbore musket compared to the rifled version of that model, specifically how common were the rifled versions? The M1842 muskets were not designed to be rifled, and it was something of an afterthought to upgrade and modernize the arms. In attempting to answer the question, I looked up the figures on M1842 production from my 2006 book, The Civil War Musket: A Handbook for Historical Accuracy. I had the M1842 production figures in the chapter on smoothbore muskets as 272,565 (p. 218) which is awfully precise. So where did that come from? I did not cite the source and the text was written quite a while ago ... as I recall it was from the Springfield Armory National Park website, but I could be wrong. Hence, I decided to look a little further.

In fellow Civil War News columnist Joe Bilby’s Civil War Guns website, the article on the U.S. M1842 gives a somewhat similar but rounder number:

“The Model 1842 Percussion Musket was produced in great numbers by both the Harpers Ferry and Springfield Armories from 1844 to 1855. The Model 1842 was notable in several respects, chiefly, that it was the last .69 caliber musket. Additionally, it was the first weapon made at both Harpers Ferry and Springfield completely interchangeable parts. Harpers Ferry produced 103,000, while Springfield produced 172,000, for a total production U.S.

with surpassing a quarter of a million arms.”

Fellow News Civil War columnist Tim Prince, of College Hill Arsenal, gives a similar but slightly different figure in a listing he had for a M1842 rifledmusket as follows: “The U.S. M1842 percussion musket went into production at the Springfield Arsenal in 1844; with 2,956 completed guns being delivered into stores that fiscal year (July 1, 1843-June 30, 1844). Production did not commence at Harper’s Ferry until 1845. That armory

delivered 2,225 arms into store during fiscal year 1845 (July 1, 1844 to June 30, 1845). The M1842 muskets remained in production until 1855, with

U.S. Model 1842 Musket

Production Numbers

Year 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1951 1852 1853 1854 1855 Total Production: 272,599 Springfield 2,956 12,107 14,265 14,300 15,018 15,145 18,155 21,000 19,800 14,500 10,000 8,624

Springfield Armory producing 165,970 producing 106,629, making the total production for the M1842 musket 272,599.”

Harpers Ferry 0 2,225 12,203 12,000 11,000 8,300 9,600 11,000 13,400 10,101 9,000 7,700

September 2022

As far as the numbers rifled and sighted, Tim states “Between 1855 and 1859 slightly less than 44,000 M1842 muskets were rifled at five U.S. arsenals and armories, including the Springfield, and Harper’s Ferry armories, and the Saint Louis, Frankford, and Benicia Arsenals. Of the 43,759 muskets rifled, 23,683 received long-range rear sights. The rifled and sighted alterations took place at both Harper’s Ferry and Springfield, as well as at Saint Louis and Frankford. Benicia Arsenal did not apply long-range rear sights to any guns they altered. Between 1856 and 1859 Springfield rifled and sighted Harper’s Ferry rifled and sighted 11,060 M1842s.

Arsenal rifled and sighted 1,313 between 1857 and 1858 while the Saint Louis rifled and sighted 1,381 in 1857.”

Summarizing production American Military Arms vol. 2 and vol. 3, by George D. Moller, are listed in the production numbers table.

Moller further between 1856 and 1859, 20,076 U.S. Model 1842 Muskets were rifled and a further 23,683 rifled and fitted with a ladder rear sight.

Craig L. Barry was born in Charlottesville, Va. He holds his BA and Masters degrees from UNC (Charlotte). Craig served The Watchdog Civil War Quarterly as Associate Editor and Editor from 2003–2017. The Watchdog published books and columns on 19th-century material and donated all funds from publications to battlefield preservation. He is the author of several books including The Civil War Musket: A Handbook for Historical Accuracy (2006, 2011), The Essays on Confederate Material Culture Vol. I and II (2012, 2013). He has also published four books in the Suppliers to the Confederacy series on Accoutrements, stores and imports.

Left: During the production life, between 1855, Harpers manufactured 100,000 muskets and Springfield produced around 172,000. This .69 caliber smoothbore musket fired a spherical lead ball. (Arston Grant collection)

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