This is a U.S. Model 1842 Percussion EXTREMELY RARE RIFLED .69 Caliber Musket, made at the famed Harpers Ferry Arsenal in Virginia in 1854. The U.S. Model 1842 was the first percussion musket issued to the U.S. Military. Previous to this model, all were flintlock ignition. Interestingly, this revolutionary arm was the first to be made at two different arsenals yet have completely interchangeable parts. In all, approximately 275,000 of this model were made, with the majority being made at Springfield. The Model1842 was also the last smoothbore musket made and issued. After this model, the bore was reduced to from .69 caliber to .58 caliber. The standard .69 caliber smoothbore musket was designed to fire a ‰ÛÏbuck and ball‰Û load consisting of a single round ball along with several smaller ‰ÛÏbuckshot‰Û balls. This combination was devastating at close range, but proved nearly useless at longer ranges. To attempt to solve this problem, from 1856-1859 14,182 standard smoothbore muskets were altered by having their bores rifled to not only fire the traditional close range buck and ball load, but also to be able to fire a huge hollow base .69 caliber Minie bullet. This was another revolutionary design in which the soft lead bullet has a large hollow base with a fairly thin ‰ÛÏskirt.‰Û When the weapon was fired, the blast and pressure from the exploding black powder charge would force the skirt around the hollow base of the bullet to expand into the rifling, creating a gas seal and a projectile that would spin and be more accurate at long range than a round ball and shot coming out of a smoothbore musket. These rifled M-1842s were issued either with or without long range rear sights. This example appears to have never had a rear sight installed and is probably one of the latter. All have 42‰Û barrels and bayonet lugs under the muzzle. The lock on this example is correctly stamped with the U.S. Eagle as well as Harpers Ferry and the date of manufacture 1854. The rear of the barrel retains the matching 1854 date as well as the small eagle head and ‰ÛÏV‰Û firing proof marks. This rifle is fully functional with all tight springs. The correct iron mountings have never been cleaned or buffed in any way and retain an attractive and desirable 164 year old dark brown patina. The solid stock displays the original oval inspection cartouche stamping on the left side opposite the lockplate indicating that this was the original stock and not a replacement. All of this model were issued and saw very hard service. This example is as issued and in un-restored ‰ÛÏattic condition.‰Û It can be safely assumed that all the rare rifled models saw hard use in the Civil War. Many of the Virginia made Harpers Ferry produced weapons found their way to Confederate troops as the Civil War was approaching. After the war, many soldiers retained their firearms and took them to the Western Frontier. Those that were turned in were later sold as surplus for the western trade. A non-standard rifled variation of the Model 1842 like this one would have been particularly useful in the West against large game as well as long range shooting. Survival rate of Model 1842 Muskets in original and unaltered condition is very small as many were later cut-down for non-military use. A rifled .69 caliber Model 1842 in this unaltered condition is a prize for any Civil War, U.S. Military or Western firearms/artifact collection. Rarely offered on the collector market today. The musket qualifies as an Antique Long Gun, and does not require FFL Transfer or NICS Background Check. Serial Number: NSN. For a complete representation of condition and for additional images please call 800-686-4216. It is the buyer‰Ûªs responsibility to view each image and preview the item to determine condition.