This is a very good example of the U.S. Model 1816 infantry musket, the basic U.S. infantry shoulder arm manufactured from 1816 up through 1844 by both national armories and by U.S. contractors as well. This one follows the Type-II configuration, made from about 1822 to 1831, in .69 caliber in original flintlock with a 42-inch barrel, with the lower sling swivel mounted on the triggerguard bow rather than through a separate lug. This was made at the Harpers Ferry Armory in Virginia in 1824 and comes complete with its original bayonet.

This musket is untouched and “unmessed with” since it was put away, by all appearances not long after its manufacture, and survives in “attic mint” condition with an overall brown patina, sharp edges to the wood, very few handling marks, and crisp markings to the metal. The lock plate is deeply and legibly stamped HARPERS / FERRY / 1824 in three lines behind the hammer and bears a Harpers Ferry style eagle over “US” between the hammer and the brass pan. The only defect we find is pitting to the top and right of side of the barrel roughly the length of the lockplate and extending back over the breechplug tang, likely the result of inadequate cleaning after its last use when powder residue from the priming pan was left on the breech and attracted moisture. This obscures any barrel markings at the very rear, but the left breech of the barrel is smooth metal and shows a deeply stamped a perfectly legible V/P/ eaglehead barrel proof. As is typical of Harpers Ferry arms, the musket is profusely marked with matching assembly numbers, in this case “3,” on its various constituent parts, including screw heads, side plate, trigger guard, trigger, barrel bands, etc. It is an indicator of the attention to detail at the Harpers Ferry Armory and a sign the gun has been together forever.

Both musket and bayonet are a matching attic brown, somewhat appropriate since the Type-II 1816s were finished in National Armory Brown originally. The barrel and bands are smooth metal back to the area of the lockplate. The buttplate shows a little crustiness, which is pretty typical is a gun was standing on the ground. The wood is exceptionally good with sharp edges on the lock platform and forestock shoulders, crisp ramrod channel, fitting tight to the metal and showing only a few handling marks. The stock shows crisp inspector’s cartouches on the left flat: “AB” in an octagonal border at top and the “V” and “PH” inspection stamps of Philip Hoffman at the rear, and also a “JM” stamp on the belly of the stock behind the trigger guard, with a less distinct stamp just forward. A lightly scratched set of initials on the left flat likely belonged to a soldier, militiaman, or later owner, but the musket does not show a lot of use.

All bands, springs, swivels, bayonet stud and ramrod are present and correct. Mechanics are good. This is accompanied by its original 1816 pattern bayonet with characteristic “T” slot in matching condition. This musket is exceptionally well preserved and we would argue against cleaning it. It would fit a collection of U.S. regulation long arms and be appropriate for a military display covering the period of the Seminole Indian Wars, early U.S. expansion into the west and southwest, including the period of the Alamo, and even as late as the Mexican War when proven flintlock arms were preferred by many to newly devised and harder to procure percussion arms.  [sr]

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