Looking for photo of M1840 conversion by John Wurfflein fedeal contractor.

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Looking for photo of M1840 conversion by John Wurfflein fedeal contractor.

Hallo!

Nice "detective work!"

Reminds me of ye Olden Daze, in ye Way Back Days, when one had to go to museums, private collections,, and track down authors and collectors rather than push buttons on a keyboard. ;) :) :)

Curt

[Craig L Barry]

Re: Looking for photo of M1840 conversion by John Wurfflein fedeal contractor.

I am pretty familiar with the Fuller collection and as expected, I have never seen one of these conversions there. There is some oddball stuff in the Fuller collection like the coffee mill Sharps, but not one of these. Is the reason for the questions about this piece that someone is going to try to produce one out of a reproduction (of some sort)?

[maillemaker]

Re: Looking for photo of M1840 conversion by John Wurfflein fedeal contractor.

Yes, I am working on making a M1840 conversion of an H&P. I am choosing the M1840 model for the basis of the conversion because the M1840 is nearly identical to the M1842, with most of the parts being identical. Since Armisport makes a very acceptable reproduction of the M1842, it is the logical basis for making an M1840 conversion.

It will require a new lock plate, a casting of which is available from The Rifle Shoppe for $18. I bought their last one and am waiting on a new batch in 8 weeks. Most of the Armisport 1842 parts drop into the Rifle Shoppe M1840 lock plate directly, except the mainspring, which had to be moved forward slightly. I have finished the lock.

It will also require re-finishing the Armisport stock, doing some wood inlet work at the tail end of the lock mortise on either side of the stock, so as to add enough wood to form the "picture frame" of wood around the lock.

Lastly, and most difficultly, will be making a new breech to replace the Armisport breech. The new breech will have the correctly-shaped rounded-bottom bolster that will rest in the pan notch on the M1840 lock. The hardest part of this will be how to deal with the fire channel already drilled through both the stock breech and through the male threads on the Armisport barrel. It seems unlikely that a new breech could be manufactured, nipple hole and fire channel hole in place, and make it so that when screwed into the barrel the breech vent hole lines up exactly with the old one in the threads on the barrel. I am not sure how to tackle this. One possibility may be to drill out the vent hole in the barrel over-size, and then plug it with a pin or screw and held in place with permanent Locktite. Of course this pin will have to be reamed flush with the inside of the barrel, and ground flush with the OD of the threads on the outside of the barrel, and then the threads re-tapped. Then when the breech is screwed in place, re-drill the vent hole through breech and barrel.

Another possibility is to mechanically fasten a new block of steel to the belly of the existing bolster, after milling it perfectly flat, using pins or small screws, and then grinding and polishing. The resultant hairline crack seam should be hardly noticeable.

Then I discovered the passage in Moller's book concerning the contract firm of Wurfflein. The passage in Moller states that the Wurfflein M1840 conversion had some kind of filler plate installed in the pan recess. This made me think that if the pan recess was completely filled, the top of the lock would be flat in that region, as it is on cone-in-barrel 1816/1822/1840 conversions, and as it is on the M1842. Which raises an interesting possibility of being able to use the Armisport 1842 barrel complete, breech and all.

The Wurfflein conversions, like the H&P federal conversions, were equipped with rear sights but never rifled.

Sadly, Moller's book provides no pictures of the M1840 Wurfflein gun, and Moller does not have one in his collection. Moller said he recollected that the plate was on the back of the lock, not in the pan recess, but it was 20+ years ago. And this is not what his text actually says.

You can see my detailed thread on this here:
http://www.n-ssa.net/vbforum/showthr...p-P-Conversion!

I have discovered that there were a couple of folks, Steve and Rondelle Willadsen, who some years ago researched the Wurffleins, mostly interested in their line of parlor firearms and cast iron parlor targets. I have established contact with Mr. Willadsen, and he says that by the time of the Civil War John Wurfflein had retired to a farm, and the actual conversions were performed by his brother, Andrew. In any case, they would be "Wurfflein" conversions. He says unfortunately many of the folks he knew over the years that might have had one in their collection have died and the collections scattered to the winds. But he has offered to make inquiries for me to see if we can locate one.

It would be fantastic if what Moller actually wrote comes to pass, with the lock plate pan recess being completely filled and the resultant bolster being flat-bottomed. This would hugely simplify making a reproduction because it is highly likely the existing Armisport breech and barrel could be used as-is.

So, I am desperate to find a Wurfflein M1840 conversion! :)

Steve