Original item: One Only. The U.S. Model 1835 Musket was a .69 caliber smoothbore flintlock, with a 42-inch barrel and an overall length of 58 inches. It replaced the previous model 1822 musket, and often is viewed as a further development of that design. It was really only an incremental change, and many differences involved how the musket was produced, rather than the actual design. The emphasis was on making some interchangeable parts, and to use more accurate manufacturing methods. This paved the way for the later model of 1842, the first U.S. musket to have fully interchangeable parts.

The Model 1835 was produced by the Springfield Armory, Harpers Ferry Armory, and numerous other contractors. It was eventually superseded by the model 1840 and 1842 muskets, the former of which was originally made in Flintlock, but most were converted to percussion before they made it to the field. The 1842 was only made in percussion.

In the 1850s, many of the Flintlock Muskets in Arsenal were converted to Percussion, which was a much more reliable and water-resistant ignition system. This involved all variants of the Model of the 1816. This helped to standardize the types of ammunition carried by the soldiers in the field.

Many were altered by Frankford Arsenal with the new Maynard Type primer locks and percussion bolsters made by the Remington Arms Co of New York. Remington Arms contracted with the government between 1856 to 1859 for 20,000 Maynard primer locks and bolsters and delivered all to Philadelphia’s Frankford Arsenal location. These were then fitted to the muskets during conversion, and the bores were rifled during this process. The rear sights were also replaced with ones similar to the Model 1855 Springfield.

The outbreak of the Civil War in the United States created a large need for percussion muskets, as the number of modern firearms currently on hand was far short of what was needed. To fill this need, many muskets converted to percussion in the 1840s-1850s were pressed back into service, such as this example. This very interesting rifle began life as a Springfield Model 1835 Musket, most likely produced at either Springfield or Harpers Ferry. It could possibly be an 1822 model, but the barrels on those were usually not suitable for conversion to a rifled bore.

The Maynard tape primer lock was one of the 20,000 produced by the Remington Arms Co., as indicated by markings on the tail of the lock plate:

The lock functions correctly, holding at half cock and firing at full. The tape primer system looks to be complete, and the advancing pawl still moves upwards along with the lock, though we have no way to test to see if the system can still feed tape primer. The door is still present and opens correctly, with the springs inside still present, and the retaining button still functional. We checked the barrel, and the breech area no longer has any recognizable markings. The cap nipple cone looks to have been replaced during the period, and the bolster cleanout screw is currently seized. We did notice a faded cartouche on the left side of the stock, but it is not legible.

When we first received this rifled musket, it was quite dirty, especially the barrel, however looking down the bore could tell us something was a bit off. At the muzzle, the barrel measures out to 0.72", but is not worn and using a bore light revealed that the last 8" of the barrel is a grafted on pipe, with the lower 34" being the original barrel. We can still see clear rifling, but it definitely looks to have seen a good amount of use originally, as it is worn and fouled. We also noted that the fore stock was replaced forward of the lower barrel band grafted into place with a very well executed joint. This means that the last 27 inches was from another gun, or possibly fabricated.

As best we can tell, the rifled musket was converted to some type of shorter "musketoon" or "artillery musket", probably about 50 inches in overall length, maybe with only two barrel bands. At some point during the 20th century, the gun was then "lengthened" to 57 3/4" in length for display. This was very well done, and must have taken a good amount of time, though it definitely means that it is definitely suitable for DISPLAY ONLY.

The musket's mounts are all of iron and have a lovely dark oxidized patina over most parts, showing areas of past oxidation peppering and light pitting, now removed. The cap nipple cone bolster shows a good amount of past powder burn, now cleaned away. There are also some inspection marks stamped into some components, and the iron butt plate is stamped U.S. (partly obscured). The barrel would usually be fitted with the standard ramp sight of the model 1855, however we do not see any evidence of this. Both sling swivels are present and functional, and there is the correct ramrod under the barrel, which still has intact threads on the other end. The stock is in lovely condition, in spite of the significant alterations. We think we can see some markings stamped into the right side of the butt stock, however the relatively thick varnish on that part of the stock makes it impossible to read.

A very interesting example of a typical U.S. musket that was given new life by later modification multiple times. Many soldiers during the civil war were armed with this exact type of rifled musket. Definitely worthy of further research!

Specifications:-

Year of Manufacture: circa 1830 - converted 1855-1856
Caliber: Originally .69" - later rifled
Cartridge Type: Ball and Powder
Barrel Length: 42 Inches
Overall Length: 57 3/4 Inches
Action type: Side Action Percussion Lock with Tape Primer
Feed System: Muzzle Loading

History of the Model 1835 Musket:

The War of 1812 had revealed many weaknesses in American muskets. The Model 1812 Musket was created in an attempt to improve both the design and manufacture of the musket. The Model 1816 made further improvements, and replaced the Model 1812. The Model 1812 had borrowed heavily from the design of the French Charleville model 1777 musket, and this design was retained for the Model 1816. The Model 1816 had a 42 inch long .69 caliber smoothbore barrel, similar to the Model 1812, but had a longer lock plate, a shorter trigger guard, and a longer bayonet than the Model 1812. The Model 1816 also had a more straight lined stock. The overall length of the weapon was 58 inches.

The Model 1816 musket was originally produced at the Harpers Ferry and Springfield Arsenals between 1816 and 1844. Around 675,000 were made, more than any other flintlock in U.S. history.

The Model 1816 was originally produced as a flintlock musket. Like many flintlock muskets, many of these were later converted to percussion cap, as the percussion cap system was much more reliable and weather resistant.

This model of Springfield musket was used by Texans during the Texas Revolution and by the US Army and militia during the Mexican-American War. During this conflict, the flintlock version of the Model 1816 was preferred by U.S. regular forces, due to percussion cap supply concerns. It was also used during the early years of the American Civil War until around 1862.

Many improvements to the Model 1816 were made, producing the Model 1822, Model 1835, Model 1840, and Model 1842. U.S. Ordnance Department referred to these as different models, but in other U.S. government documents they are referred to as a continuation of the Model 1816. Modern histories are similarly inconsistent in the nomenclature of these weapons, often referring to them as "Type 2" and "Type 3" versions of the M1816.

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IMA considers all of our antique guns as non-firing, inoperable and/or inert. Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 921(a)(16) defines antique firearms as all guns made prior to 1899. This law exempts antique firearms from any form of gun control or special engineering because they are not legally considered firearms. No FFL, C&R or any license is required to possess, transport, sell or trade Antique guns. All rifles and muskets sold by IMA that were manufactured prior to 1899 are considered Antiques by the US BATF (United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms). Therefore, all of IMA's Antique guns may be shipped to all US States and most nations around the world.

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