Guns International #: 102347843
Seller's Inventory #: CBP22-47

Category - Military Rifles - Antique - Military Rifles - US

Category
Military Rifles - Antique
Military Rifles - US

1825 A. Waters Contract U.S. Model 1816 Flintlock Musket in .69 Cal. w/ 1857 Ward Tape Primed Conversion * RARE Conversion Musket *

Description:
This is a VERY interesting and VERY rare U.S. Military conversion musket.  This smoothbore musket started life as a U.S. Model 1816 Flintlock Musket in .69 caliber made by the A. Waters firm in Millbury, MA. in 1825.  After serving U.S. Government forces in numerous duties/conflicts for 32 years between 1825 and 1857, this Waters Model 1816 Flintlock smoothbore musket was now an antique compared to the percussion weapons being produced in the 1840's and 50's.  In order to modernize these muskets, of which the U.S. Government had a large number in inventory, a program was started to overhaul these out of date weapons to make them ready for modern combat.  While many of these muskets were simply converted to percussion muzzleloaders to match much of the armament out there, a number of firms went beyond the basic conversion techniques in an attempt to make these muskets even more accurate by rifling the barrels and more advanced than a normal cap and ball musket by adding mechanical or auto-priming systems.  One such company was the J.N. Ward Company which designed a tape primer conversion which was housed in the hammer itself.  They would remove all of the flintlock specific parts form the lock, attach a custom-designed and unique-looking  bolster containing a musket nipple attached to the barrel in place of the pan, and then replace the hammer with a special unique hammer of their own design.  The sights would also be replaced at this time with a very unique-looking tall brass cone-shaped front sight post matched with a short, single-leaf rear sight.  This admittedly awkward large-looking special hammer not only held a roll of the tape pellet primers towards the back, but housed a ratching system in the front which would operate an inner ratchet when the hammer was cocked that would eject a short strip of the primer tape (containing the fulminate) which would cover the nipple.  The soldier would only need to worry about loading the powder and bullet for each shot, the capping and ignition would handled by the hammer mechanism.  Replacing the primer tape when it ran out simply required the soldier to swing open the rear compartment of the hammer and feed in a new roll.  This design was supposed to make firing the musket much faster as it eliminated the need to cap and decap the nipple, as well as carry loose nipples in yet another pouch on their uniform belt on in their pockets.  While these Ward conversions were supposed to have rifling added to the barrels in addition to the new ignition system, all examples that have been encountered were still smoothbore indicating that the rifling never occurred on the production examples.    The total quantity of these extremely rare Ward conversions made is unknown today, but is generally accepted to be less than 300.  This figure comes from the only known contract for these conversions with the state of New York which ordered 1200 of them in 1857.  According to the records in New York from this period, slightly less than 300 of them were actually delivered.  There are also some Springfield Model 1816 Flintlocks converted with this Ward tape primer conversion hammer as well, however these were put together by the Springfield Arsenal in the same year, 1857, from parts they received from the J.N. Ward Company.   This particular example is fresh out of the woodwork so to speak, and appears to be totally 100% original and unmolested.  All of the steel parts have a uniform and attractive aged appearance to them, all of the hardware is intact and in good condition, and the stock is original and in great shape.  As you can see from the pictures, all of the factory markings are intact and legible, and even the original stock cartouches from it's days as a Model 1816 Flintlock are still visible, although faint.  All of the stock hardware is still in place, original, and in good condition, and the American Walnut itself is solid and free from any major damage or repairs.  The lock on this Ward conversion is in good working order, and the hammer still has both the half and full-cock notches intact.  The swing-open door at the rear right side of the hammer opens up as it was designed to, however we do not know if the tape feeding function still works or not as there is no primer tape of that type available for a trial.  If you are a serious antique American Arms collector or Civil War weapons collector here is your chance to get one of the rarest known conversions in the book and the first example we have ever had our hands on!    As this is an antique it can be shipped directly to your home, no FFL needed!

SOLD

Antique: Yes
Handgun Caliber: .69
Manufacturer: A. Waters Firm in Millbury, Ma.
Model: U.S. Model 1816 Flintlock Musket w/ 1857 Ward Tape Primer Conversion
Serial Number: None
Barrel Length: 42" Inches
Bore: Smoothbore
Condition: Good
Metal Condition: Good
Wood Condition: Good
Bore Condition: Very Good
Barrel Type: Round
Action: Flintlock Single Shot to Tape Primed Percussion Musket
Stock: Smooth American Walnut
Sights: Fixed Iron Sights (Tall Brass Cone Front & Short 1 Leaf Rear)
Manufacture Date: 1825 (Conversio