Ridgeway Civil War Research Center, A virtual examination of artifacts of the American Civil War
	Civil War Weapons, all pre 1898
	by Harry Ridgeway

Smoothbore percussion musket, Model 1842, Harpers Ferry, 1855, converted to rifled in 1850's, .69cal. . The Model 1842 was manufactured from 1844 through 1855, was the last smoothbore produced as a primary military firearm. It was designed from the beginning as a percussion muzzleloader, .69cal. Rifling and a long range sight was added by the Springfield arsenal in the late 1850's, the musket was not otherwise altered, and was done by simply cutting into the bore. This left relatively weak riffling, otherwise the resultant thinned barrel would be weakened. Manufactured by Harpers Ferry Armory, Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia). Marks: Lock is marked HARPERS / FERRY / 1855 behind the hammer, with eagle head and US in front. Barrel is marked VP over eagle head, and an inspector mark, breech tang (date). The barrel date is often different from the date on the lock, as both were made independently, then drawn from stocks as available on assembly or were mixed up in the field. Inspector mark on lock strap. Buttplate is marked US. Model features: Iron buttplate is straight against the shoulder, iron strap opposite the lock, iron trigger guard, originals were not fitted with rear sight, two iron barrel bands, large iron nose guard serves as third band, bayonet lug on bottom of barrel at muzzle, steel ramrod is trumpet head and threaded. Research Center: Weapon1401-Musket-Model-1842-Harpers-Ferry-1855 . Reference: Flayderman 9A-292. Barrel length, 42in. Details click: http://relicman.com/weapons/Weapon1401-Musket-Model-1842-Harpers-Ferry-1855.html

W1061 ### Smoothbore percussion musket, Model 1842, Harpers Ferry, 1855, converted to rifled in 1850's, .69cal. . The Model 1842 was manufactured from 1844 through 1855, was the last smoothbore produced as a primary military firearm. It was designed from the beginning as a percussion muzzleloader, .69cal. Rifling and a long range sight was added by the Springfield arsenal in the late 1850's, the musket was not otherwise altered, and was done by simply cutting into the bore. This left relatively weak riffling, otherwise the resultant thinned barrel would be weakened. Manufactured by Harpers Ferry Armory, Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia). Marks: Lock is marked HARPERS / FERRY / 1855 behind the hammer, with eagle head and US in front. Barrel is marked VP over eagle head, and an inspector mark, breech tang (date). The barrel date is often different from the date on the lock, as both were made independently, then drawn from stocks as available on assembly or were mixed up in the field. Inspector mark on lock strap. Buttplate is marked US. Model features: Iron buttplate is straight against the shoulder, iron strap opposite the lock, iron trigger guard, originals were not fitted with rear sight, two iron barrel bands, large iron nose guard serves as third band, bayonet lug on bottom of barrel at muzzle, steel ramrod is trumpet head and threaded. Research Center: Weapon1401-Musket-Model-1842-Harpers-Ferry-1855 . Reference: Flayderman 9A-292. Barrel length, 42in.

This is the "Ridgeway Civil War Research Center", a research tool for educational purposes only, and is provided at no cost to the reader. Some of the relics listed are retained in the author's collection, most reside in other collections and are not owned by the author. None of the items listed in this section are for sale, please refer to relicman.com sales listings for items offered for sale. This is a work in progress, I list items as I get to them, there are many patterns that are not listed yet, this list will be regularly updated as I get pictures and descriptions for more items. I will also correct mistakes, so if you see any please tell me. All items listed are believed to be authentic to the Civil War or as otherwise described. Any excavated relics have been recovered from private property with owners permission.This information is available for research purposes, pictures may be used by permission only.

All weapons listed on this webpage are strictly manufactured before 1898, and are considered unsafe for actual use. These are antique collectible weapons of the Civil War (most are pre 1865, unless I state otherwise) and actual firing of these weapons is not recommended for any purpose whatsoever! Because these are all "pre 1898" weapons, no licenses are required for ownership, but common sense and good judgment should be applied.

Most information on this page is from:
Flayderman's Guide to Antique American Firearms......
John Thillman series, "Civil War Cavalry & Artillery Sabers...", or "Civil War Army Swords....".

Ridgeway Civil War Research Center, A virtual examination of artifacts of the American Civil War Weapons Research center, weapons, click: http://relicman.com/weapons/Weapon0000-Index.html. Research center, weapons, click: http://relicman.com/weapons/Weapon0000-Index.html.

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Civil War Relicman, Harry Ridgeway, Civil War weapons, Relicman sales catalog. Sale listings click: http://relicman.com/weapons/Relicman-Sales-Weapon0000.html. Sale listings click: http://relicman.com/weapons/Relicman-Sales-Weapon0000.html.