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215.1–1 Except for its lock and its barrel’s percussion nipple and bolster, the Model 1842 musket was the same as the Model 1840 flintlock musket. Model 1842 Percussion Musket  215. The Model 1842 percussion musket has the same configuration as the Model 1840 flintlock musket except for differences of the lock and barrel’s breech that relate to the percussion ignition system. A November 23, 1841, letter from Chief of Ordnance Colonel Bomford to Major Ripley at Springfield Armory stated, The Musket is to be arranged on the same principle as the [Model 1841] Rifle, and with the least alteration from the present [Model 1840] pattern which circumstances will admit. . . . You will be pleased to have these models made and send them to this Office, by the Master Armorer, to be submitted to the Ordnance Board. As the Change in the Musket is confined to the lock and the parts adjoining, it will be sufficient to send a Model of those parts of the Arm which embrace these alterations, and which may be more readily prepared than a model of the whole musket. In addition to being the first regulation armory-pattern percussion musket, the Model 1842 musket was the first arm fabricated at both national armories that had fully interchangeable components. Springfield Armory began the manufacture of muskets with interchangeable components with the introduction of the Model 1840 flintlock musket in 1839. Harpers Ferry Armory’s musket manufactory began interchangeable manufacture when it introduced the Model 1842 musket in 1844. The chief of ordnance’s annual report for 1855 related how this interchangeability was tested at Harpers Ferry as a result of an April 20, 1854, flood that damaged 20,000 muskets, including 9,000 Model 1842 muskets. The Model 1842 muskets were stripped and their components were placed into boxes of similar parts. They were cleaned and polished, then reassembled into muskets. All of the parts interchanged and fit, thereby demonstrating the accuracy inherent in their manufacture. The Model 1842 musket was the last of the regulation armory-pattern infantry muskets in .69 caliber. Springfield Armory Superintendent John Robb sent two sample Model 1842 muskets to Chief of Ordnance Colonel Bomford on March 12, 1841. Apparently, Part II 190 some changes were required in the locks, because Superintendent Robb sent another model percussion lock to the chief of ordnance on July 11. The nipple’s specifications were changed from those originally recommended by an Ordnance Board; a model of the revised nipple and its gauges were sent from Springfield Armory to Harpers Ferry Armory on October 4, 1844. Models of the revised nipples and their drawings were not sent to U.S. contractors of rifles and pistols until May 21, 1847. Similar to earlier muskets, several manufacturers wrote to the Ordnance Department attempting to obtain government contracts to fabricate Model 1842 muskets. One of these was Lemuel Pomeroy, who had produced the Model 1840 flintlock musket under federal contract. Two other well-known gun-makers, Henry E. Leman and Eli Whitney Jr., also attempted to obtain contracts from the Ordnance Department. However, from the introduction of the Model 1842 musket until mid-1861, all muskets and rifle muskets procured by the federal government for the U.S. armed forces were fabricated at the two national armories. Additional Model 1842 muskets were fabricated for the state of South Carolina and are described in section 215.6. The chief of ordnance’s annual report for fiscal 1845 stated, “2,370 leather cone [nipple] pads” were fabricated during that year. These pads were sent along with small quantities of Model 1842 muskets and ammunition to selected companies at various military posts for the field trials of the muskets. It was initially believed that these pads were necessary to protect the nipples of the new percussion muskets, but they were found to be unnecessary and their manufacture was discontinued. The only change made during the production of this arm was to the percussion hammer. An ordnance board, which met from March 10 to April 1, 1846, recommended that the hammer’s thumbpiece be extended .2". This was to enable “the arm to be carried more conveniently at a support.” It is believed that hammers with the longer thumbpiece were introduced into the production of muskets in 1848. Although the Model 1842 musket was the same .69 caliber as previous flintlock muskets, the ammunition differed. The combustible paper...

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