Here's a great example of a relatively rare US musket. This original Model 1840 was made by Nippes, one of two private arsenals to produce the M1840. It is in excellent, fireable condition. The M1840 has the distinction of being America's last flintlock musket and was later replaced by the M1842. These muskets were only made for four years and because of this they are relatively rare. A majority of M1840 muskets, this particular piece included, were converted to percussion. The majority of Nippes M1840s were converted to percussion via the "cone in barrel" or Belgian conversion system. This style of conversion involved plugging the barrel's original flint "touch hole" and drilling and tapping the barrel for a percussion cone. This conversion, while simple and inexpensive, was ultimately deemed unsafe for use by many states, as the thin barrel wall into which the percussion cone was threaded was often too thin to securely hold the cone in place when fired. This often lead to the cones blowing out under pressure; especially if the threads were worn.
For this reason, some states opted to have their converted 1816's modified to be safer and more reliable. The leader in this crusade was the state of Pennsylvania; who, starting in late 1861, contracted with more than a dozen gunsmiths to have its "cone-in-barrel" 1816s updated to a more modern "bolster conversion". This conversion work included the cutting off of the entire breech section of the barrel and threading the remaining portion to accept a one piece breech and bolster, or "patent breech". The patent breeches were much stronger as they incorporated a dedicated one-piece bolster with an angled fire channel. This prevented the pressure from the main charge of the barrel from stressing the threads of the percussion cone. In addition to a new bolster, some shops, like Leman and Hewes & Phillips, also completed the "modernization" by rifling the the barrels of the guns they converted.
This particular M1840 is identified by noted author George Moller in his book American Military Shoulder Arms, Volume III: Flintlock Alterations and Muzzleloading Percussion Shoulder Arms, 1840-1865 as a Philadelphia conversion done for the state of Pennsylvania. It is in excellent condition. The stock has wonderfully crisp edges; indicating that it was never sanded or refinished. The original inspector's cartouches are sharp and legible. There are no chips or cracks anywhere.
The lock features crisp legible markings and the hammer holds solid on both full and half cock.
The barrel is full length with great stamps at the breech and no major pitting or rust. The bore features crisp sharp rifling with some light surface rust.
The furniture is all original and the ramrod is full length. This excellent musket would make for an awesome "esoteric" addition to anyone's Civil War collection.
