Here's a phenomenal completely custom Harper's Ferry Model 1842 Hall Carbine built by master gunmaker Steve Krolick. It is in near new condition and was assembled from American made components offered by the now defunct Ordnance Park Company.
The Model 1842 is by far the rarest of all the Hall variants. Exactly 1,001 were manufactured by the Federal Arsenal at Harper's Ferry between 1842-1843. Brass mounted with a 21" smoothbore barrel, the Model 1842 was the last Hall carbine manufactured by Harpers Ferry. Nearly all of the thousand gun production run were sent to the 1st U.S. Dragoons and saw hard use in the western campaigns of the Mexican-American War, contributing to their extreme scarcity today. The 1st Dragoons were part of the Army of the West (1846), commanded by Stephen W. Kearny, which played a prominent role in the conquest of New Mexico and California.
As the rarest of the Hall rifle variants, the Model 1842 has traditionally commanded some extremely high price tags, with some premium condition examples fetching prices well into the five-figure range. It is with this in mind that a group of enterprising Hall enthusiasts founded the Ordnance Park Co. in the 1980's with the goal of bringing a reproduction Model 1842 Hall parts kit to the market.
While the founders of Ordnance Park may have had good intentions, they were far from gunbuilders, and soon discovered the hurtles that are associated with producing reproduction parts. The kits that they eventually offered soon garnered a reputation for being very crude, with very rough carved stocks and components that required considerable machining to make them functional. Because of this, public opinion regarding the company soon soured, as most builders simply did not have the skill to take the rough components offered in the kits and build them into a functional Hall Carbine.
For this reason it is estimated that less than 200 Ordnance Park Hall Carbine kits were sold before the company went bankrupt in the mid 1990's with less than 20 of that number completed by competent gunsmiths into functional weapons. This, ironically, has made the reproduction Model 1842 Hall Carbine even more rare than the original guns from which it was copied.
However, for the few gunsmiths that had the skill and the knowledge to assemble them, the Ordnance Park Model 1842 Hall Carbines could be made into exceptional guns; whose quality was rivaled only by the original examples produced by Harper's Ferry.
Master gunsmith Steve Krolick was among those who were unintimidated by rough state of the Ordnance Park Hall kits. As a Hall expert, Steve has repaired, restored, and custom built over 100 Hall rifles throughout his career, including this beautiful Model 1842 Carbine.
Steve built this Model '42 back in the mid 1990's for a collector of Hall rifles. Upon its completion it was used a display item, among a number of original Hall variants until we purchased it earlier this year. As such, the gun is in near mint condition. with no damage or real blemishes to speak of.
This Hall is ready for shooting or reenacting. The barrel is correctly bored to .52 smoothbore and is in very good shape with no rust or pitting.
The breech block and receiver were nitre blued and features all correct markings. The barrel was finished "National Armory Brown" just like the originals.
The stock was cut from straight-grained American Walnut. Steve's fitting and stock shaping are perfect with all parts fitted nicely with no gaps. A hand rubbed oil finish was applied to the stock
The hammer holds well on full and half cock, and the "whale-tail" lever on the bottom of the gun opens the breech block reliably.
This carbine is an excellent choice for a Hall collector who wants a weapon that looks 100% authentic but can still be shot. This handsome Hall won't last long and there are no components to build another, so don't wait! Order now!
