1842 Springfield musket

[gunnut41]

My SIL is bringing one home from Colorado that was found in Fathers Garage rafters.Is supposed to be an original.
Long story so will not bother with details.
Supposed to have bent barrel near muzzle and cracked wrist held together with tape.
Is a 42 inch barrel but has a 1847 lock similar to 26 inch musketoon.
Question is how far to go as to restoring this musket?

Cut barrel to 26 inch?
Buy new barrel?
repair stock?
buy new stock or make one?

haven't seen it yet but will on Mothers Day when SIL brings it to me.
Am looking for ideas and thoughts on what to do and how far to go.


gunnut41

[mr. no gold]

Suggest that you do nothing to the gun in the way of restoration. It is a good historical relic as it is and to change it wipes out that record of use. The 1842 is not a high value gun and you will not gain from an expensive restoration, in my opinion. Rather, see what you find out about its history as to who used it, and how it got to where it was found. You may have a jewel in it.
As an example similar to your situation, I knew a fellow who found a Gumph Lancaster rifle out west.
It was covered with leather and brass tacks which he did not like. He told me that he stripped all of that off and refinished the stock. When I told him what he had done he was pretty crest fallen. He had taken a genuine Indian gun and undid its history; he reduced its value by about 75%. Just my thoughts on the matter.
Dick   

[GrampaJack]

It all depends on how bad the damage is. A cracked stock may very well be fixable especially if the crack is such that it can be opened to get epoxy in there and then clamped. AcraGlas is wonderful stuff.  A bent barrel can probably be  fixed too as long as it isn't kinked. If its just dented at the muzzle it can be easily swaged round again.  I would not cut the barrel. Having a full length stock and barrel to work with is a great start. Post some pictures and you will get lots of advice here. The most important thing is, don't do anything that can't be reversed. No Gold is right, you might have something there that has much more value than you think.  Jack

[mr. no gold]

Sounds to me that Jack has laid out a pretty good plan to do limited restoration! On reading his comments, he is of the school, it appears, that considers it reasonable to put a gun back to what it would have looked like had it been treated properly. I certainly do agree with you Jack. Hope that the owner of the 1842 follows your advice. Properly done, he won't do any harm to the old thing and it will look a lot better for it all. Probably will even improve the value of the gun to some degree.
Dick

[gunnut41]

The main problem that I have right now is I think it is still loaded!!
Running the ram rod down the barrel and estimating where the breach plug is I have 1 1/2 inch of diference. About what you would have for a full charge.
Have tried blowing it out with 120 lb air to no avail.
Now have poured tranny fluid down the barrel to soak into charge (if there is one) and hope to either pull the bullet or blow it out with air.
Am beginning to think the  flash hole into the barrel is rusted closed allowing no air to get in.

It is a sometime project and I am kinda letting it slide for now.Need to build a bullet puller of some type anyway.
Was thimking some all thread with a drywall screw on the end . Then I could us a washer and nut to do the pulling instead of brute force

Is it possible to remove the( I do not know the proper name) nub that the nipple fits into?
Is it threaded or welded on?

Open to any suggestions!

gunnut41

[GrampaJack]

I think it was forged as part of the barrel. It sure sounds like its loaded. 1 1/2" is about right for a charge. If you can get the nipple out you might be able to get in there and open up the hole but you sure don't want to create a spark. They make CO2 cartridges that screw into the hole that might work.  Be real careful, those things have been known to go bang and 150 year old shrapnel is still shrapnel! Jack

[gunnut41]

Got it out but haven't found it yet.
Found the flash hole in the barrel rusted solid.
Very carefully drilled it out and used 125 lb air on top of the oil I poured down the muzzle 24 hours ago.
It let go with enough of a bang my neighbor came over to see what I had blown up.
Found what was left of the powder but haven't found the ball yet.
Will look again when he mows his lawn.
Thanks for the help and ideas.

gunnut41