U.S. Model 1842 Musket- used by both the North and South during the Civil War.

[drm2m]

http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd346/drm2m/DSC08986.jpg

(Click on the bar to enlarge the images.)


1843 is the earliest issue date for a Harpers Ferry manufactured U.S. Model 1842 musket.


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The 1845 barrel date is not unusual being mismatched with the lock plate dating of 1843.


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This gun with the 1843 lock dating and 1845 barrel dating falls within the Mexican War period as well as the Civil War period.

The inspector's cartouche on the stock is faintly visible in the photo below.


http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd346/drm2m/DSC08909.jpg


The following commentary is from Joe Bilby (columnist from The Civil War Times publication following my questions to him on March 13 2006.)


Joe Bilby shown below.

http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd346/drm2m/bilby1.jpg

Joe is the author of many gun books and regimental history works from this period and was very helpful to me when I was debating purchasing this gun.


Joe's comments.

Widely used in the first two years of the war by both sides, and used by certain regiments, like those of the Irish Brigade and the 12th NJ, who preferred it, into late 1864. The 12th's Gettysburg monument is as much to the '42 as to the regiment. It is topped with a large sphere and three smaller ones, with the line "buck and ball."



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Bayonet and scabbard.
The bayonet which is marked” U.S” over “C” over “17” on the blade flat is a U.S Bayonet Model 1835……. , it came in a Regulation Pattern of 1839 Scabbard. This scabbard was normally carried in a shoulder belt (baldric) as opposed to being carried on the belt with a frog. This is the correct bayonet for the U.S. Model 1842 Musket, with a correct early scabbard.


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Other Salient Facts;

Between 1843 and 1855 a total of 275,000 of this model were manufactured by Springfield and Harpers Ferry Armories, of which 172,000 were turned out at Springfield alone. The bayonet utilized for this model musket was the Model 1842 socket bayonet, which was 20-1/2 inches long, with a 2-7/8 inch socket and an 18-inch triangular blade. The U.S. Model 1842 Musket was the first arm to be produced at both the Harpers Ferry and Springfield Armories on a completely interchangeable basis, and aside even from this significant fact, holds a prominent position in the development of U.S. military shoulder arms. This was the first regulation percussion arm produced in the national armories, and at the same time, the last of the .69 caliber smoothbores.

.69 calibre round ball, or, “buck and ball” that was a .69 round ball with three rounds of buckshot.


David

[Teleoceras]

Drm2m:

.69 calibre round ball, or, “buck and ball” that was a .69 round ball with three rounds of buckshot.

Great article! I just need to make a minor correction. The cartridge used by the 1842 Musket consisted of a .65 round ball weighing 412grs. with .31 buckshot weighing 41grs.

There were three cartridge types. The single large .65 ball was not used as often as the buckn'ball loads of one .65 ball with three .31 balls. There was also a guard duty cartridge that used twelve .31 balls turning the Musket into a shotgun.

All of these loads was on top of a 110gr. powder charge.

All of this data can be found in the excellent book United States Firearms: The First Century 1776-1875 by David F. Butler.

[drm2m]

Teleoceras,

Thanks for your interest in this thread.
I guess we are using different reference books regarding the Model 1842 U.S. Percussion Musket.

My references are Flaydermanns page 446, 5th Edition , and Robert M. Reilly, page 14 in his book United States Military Small Arms 1816-1865.

I have never heard of a .65 caliber musket ball?

David


I just found this on the Internet.....Interesting,.....I did not know that!
Thanks for the heads up.

(The gun shown above is a .69 cal. smooth bore....1843 early vintage)


The main drawback was that it had a smooth bore of .69 caliber.

“RIFLED WEAPONS” required the ball to be threaded tightly down spiral grooves in a barrel so the bullet would come out spiralling like a football. This allowed only about one shot per minute which would be a liability during an enemy bayonet assault. To speed loading the Model 1842 was issued with a .65 caliber round ball.

This allowed only about one shot per minute which would be a liability during an enemy bayonet assault. To speed loading the Model 1842 was issued with a .65 caliber round ball. This allowed the typical soldier to fire three shots in one minute, at a cost of accuracy. The Model 1842 did not have a rear site for aiming, it was a point and shoot weapon. In order to make the Model 1842 Musket work most effectively, soldiers were trained to fire in shoulder-to-shoulder volleys like a giant human shotgun. In order to make the weapon even more effectively, the U.S. Army typically issued what was called buck-and-ball cartridges.

The buck-and-ball contained one .65 caliber round ball and three .31 caliber
buckshot. The Model 1842 Musket was replaced by the Model 1842 Rifled Musket, using a new expanding bullet, in 1857.

[threepdr]

The .65 caliber ball allowed the projectiles to be loaded while still enclosed in the cartridge paper. This took up some of the windage. As the musket became fouled with residue, the ball could be unwrapped completely and still allow easy loading.

I've shot my Model 42 with both single ball and buk-n-ball. For some reason the .65 caliber ball becomes very eratic when pushed behind the three buckshot. There is much more chance of hitting a man sized target at 75 yards if there are no buck shot in the load.

The rifled version of the Model 42 is a terror to shoot. The 750 grain lead minie ball has a serious kick to it.

[Matt Wolff]

The rifled version of the Model 42 is a terror to shoot. The 750 grain lead minie ball has a serious kick to it.

x2. the .58 (.575) isnt too bad on the shoulder, and fire them often. Fired my friends 69 cal rifled "42", and was shocked that the recoil closely rivaled that of a 30-06 :surrender:. mixed with slow load times, that wears on you quick lol

[drm2m]

Threepdr and Teleoceras,

I have certainly learned more about "buck and ball" based on your comments.
Thank you.

I found these comments on the Internet.....I own Claud Fuller's book and have not looked at his findings in this regard.


Claud E. Fuller, in his book The Rifled Musket (New York: Bonanza Books, 1958) shows tests of a rifled musket firing Minie balls, and a smoothbore musket firing round ball and buck and ball rounds at various ranges. At ranges of 200 yards (180 m) and under, the buck and ball from the smoothbore musket, while less accurate than the rifled musket, actually produces a greater number of hits due to the greater number of projectiles; 37 of 50 Minie balls, vs. 18 of 50 balls and 31 of 150 buckshot, for a total of 49 hits in 50 shots. Beyond this range, the buckshot will have lost sufficient energy to become ineffective due to its lower ballistic coefficient.


The .69 cal. Minie ball top left corner and .69 caliber round ball top right corner of the photo below.

I do not have an example of a buck and ball paper cartridge in my collection.

I have .58 cal and .577 paper cartridges and that is it.

David


http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd346/drm2m/CroppedresizedCivilWarBullets009.jpg

[Teleoceras]

Drm2m:

I also recommend Civil War Firearms by Joseph G. Bilby. It has a nice section on the smoothbores.

I shoot smoothbores about 80% of the time and have developed a real preference for them. It is because of the variable loadings that you can do with those old warriors that makes me love'em so much.

Also a Musket if shot with a tight ball and patch is pretty accurate out to 50 yards.