Help with M1816 please?

[Cpl. Parker]

Hello,

I have purchased a 1816 Springfield musket converted to percussion. I know nothing about these muskets. It has a 1833 lock date and a 42" (41 and 7/8ths") smoothbore barrel. Any information would be greatly appreciated.Here are some photos sent by the dealer.



Thanks
Kevin Grant

[Tim Prince]

Re: Help with M1816 please?

Sir,

As you said, you have a US M-1816 musket, converted to percussion. While "1816" is the popular terminology with collectors, there is more correct period terminology. According to the most recent and authoritative work on the subject, it would have been a US M-1822/28 (Model of 1822 with 1828 improvements). In collector terminology, the 1833 date classifies the musket as an "1816 TYPE III". Most of the improvements centered upon making the gun parts more standardized, although certainly not "interchangeable". The primary goal was to achieve muskets that did not require having the bayonets individually fit to them. Your conversion was done by H.E. Leman of Lancaster, PA. I can tell by the distinctive style of bolster used on the conversion. They conversions utilized a "Patent Breech", where the old breech was cut off and a new one with an integral bolster was threaded onto the barrel. These conversions were much stronger than the "Belgian" style "cone-in-barrel" conversions performed at the US armories. Leman was a famous gunsmith of the period and produced many fine sporting guns, as well as performing conversion work on military muskets and producing a limited number of military long arms from scratch.

I hope this is helpful information for you. For more information on these muskets, look to the following resources:

US Military Flintlock Muskets & Their Bayonets, Volume II by Peter Schmidt
United States Martial Flintlocks by Robert Reilly
Flayderman's Guide to Antique American Arms & Their Values, 9th Edition by Norm Flayderman

As always, education makes for a better customer, and if you are going to start collecting antique arms, get a copy of Flayderman's ASAP. For those of us in the antique arms trade it is the "bible" of antique American guns.