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Just heard from my favorite gunsmith Todd Watts that he believes that the flintlock musket conversion to an Arsenal or "cone-in-barrel" project is finished. I will pick it up Saturday at BRI but I have asked Todd to go ahead and post some images of it on here for anybody interested in seeing how it turned out. This particular musket was purchased by me from a gunbroker.com auction where it was listed as a Pedersoli Charleville. I knew at a glance it was not a Charleville, but figured it could the kissin' cousin US 1795 (Watts has one of these himself) that Pedersoli makes. After it arrived, it was pretty clear this was not a Pedersoli model, or completely any model I had ever seen before. It does not really meet the textbook definition of any of the US Models, or their Italian made reproductions but most closely resembles the 1795 type II or type III (alternately known as the 1808 and the 1812). It does appear have a Pedersoli lock assembly, bands, possibly the barrel and a Pedersoli Charleville ramrod. It is not Indy/Paki-made and has good quality parts so Todd and I opined that it could be one of those Rifle Shoppe kits, but who knows? Anyway...I won't bore everyone with Todd's learning experiences with it at my expense, but he now knows what it will take to offer a reproduction of this particular musket.
1. You will need a quality repro flintlock musket, obviously. The Pedersoli 1816 is probably the best musket to start off with although cost can be prohibitive if purchased NIB. BRI is in the processing of becoming a Pedersoli dealer. Pedersoli also makes a Prussian 1809 in flint with brass bands that could be a potential conversion candidate. These tend to be in the $1,000 to $1,200 range from Dixie Gun Works. However, they do come up from time to time second hand for considerably less if you keep your eyes open. I just picked up a Zimmerman defarbed Pedersoli 1816 conv musket with a bayonet and TMD scabbard for about the cost of a repro Armi Sport US 1842. Point being, it can be done.
2. The conversion musket hammer on mine was an original part, but these are not expensive or hard to find. The hammer usually requires some fitting to get the lock geometry to work out right.
The US 1816 conversion musket (cone-in-barrel) was a very common musket on both sides early in the war. It will be nice to have this particular option available for those who want a smoothbore musket alternative to the Armi Sport US 1842, and the Pedersoli cone in drum conversion (Colt-type but not really) musket.
1. You will need a quality repro flintlock musket, obviously. The Pedersoli 1816 is probably the best musket to start off with although cost can be prohibitive if purchased NIB. BRI is in the processing of becoming a Pedersoli dealer. Pedersoli also makes a Prussian 1809 in flint with brass bands that could be a potential conversion candidate. These tend to be in the $1,000 to $1,200 range from Dixie Gun Works. However, they do come up from time to time second hand for considerably less if you keep your eyes open. I just picked up a Zimmerman defarbed Pedersoli 1816 conv musket with a bayonet and TMD scabbard for about the cost of a repro Armi Sport US 1842. Point being, it can be done.
2. The conversion musket hammer on mine was an original part, but these are not expensive or hard to find. The hammer usually requires some fitting to get the lock geometry to work out right.
The US 1816 conversion musket (cone-in-barrel) was a very common musket on both sides early in the war. It will be nice to have this particular option available for those who want a smoothbore musket alternative to the Armi Sport US 1842, and the Pedersoli cone in drum conversion (Colt-type but not really) musket.
All that heating and re-heating managed to harden the breech where the cone had to be drilled and I burnt a TiN bit blunt trying to get the cone drilled. After I finally got it drilled with multiple resharpenings of the bit I threaded the cone, assembled it and found top my aggravation that the cone angle was not right and thus the hammer fell just shy of the nipple.:angry_smi Ran another screw in and welded it, ground it, burnt the TiN bit blunt again which further work-hardened the spot, so I welded it all back over and bought a Cobalt bit :baring_te and then drilled it while lubricating it with a thick cloud of oaths and swears. Aha! It reached the depth of the cone's shank which went through the barrel wall leaving no "seat base" at all. I shortened the shank of the supplied cone enough that it won't get into the breech area and threaded the hole and then screwed it in, grinding a shallow angled seat on the barrel exterior to allow the cone to thread in snug. The angle was not as far back as I'd meant to put it, but the hammer nose does just barely reach the nipple and reliably detonate caps. Lesson learned - drill cone seat first, then weld over vents.:o I had to weld and extension on the tumbler square to accept the thicker percussion hammer, and weld beads on its outside square faces and inside the hammer then file to fit tightly to make the hammer fit well. Threaded that for the hammer screw and cut off the old pan flush and plugged old flinter screw holes with the old screws and filed flush. It works. It ain't the most impressive bit of smithery I've ever done, but heck, it's only Craig's gun anyway.:p
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