Springfield Model 1812 Musket

Last updated
Model 1812 Musket
NMAH-1812.jpg
Type Musket
Place of origin United States of America
Service history
In service1812–1865
Used by United States, Confederate States of America
Wars Indian Wars
Mexican–American War
American Civil War
Production history
Designer?
Designed1812
Manufacturer United States Armory and Arsenal at Springfield
Produced1812–1816
No. built60,000
Specifications
Mass10 lb (4.5 kg)
Length58.0 in (1,470 mm)
Barrel  length42.0 in (1,070 mm)

Cartridge Paper cartridge, musket ball (.65/16.510 mm) undersized to reduce the effects of powder fouling
Caliber .69 (17.526 mm)
Barrels Smoothbore
Action Flintlock
Rate of fire User dependent; usually 2 to 3 rounds every 1 minute
Muzzle velocity 1,000 to 1,200 ft/s (300 to 370 m/s)
Effective firing range100 to 200 yards, in reality 50 to 75 yards
Maximum firing range300 yd (275 m) [1]
Feed system Muzzle-loaded
SightsA front sight cast into the barrel band

The Springfield Model 1812 Musket is a .69 caliber, flintlock musket manufactured by the Springfield Armory.

The War of 1812 revealed many weaknesses in the earlier Model 1795 Musket. The Model 1812 was an attempt to improve both the design and manufacturing process of the musket. The design borrowed heavily from the French Charleville model 1777 musket. [2] The Springfield Model 1812 musket arrived too late to be of use in the War of 1812 but would later become standard issue to regular infantry and militia units. [3]

The Model 1812 was a .69 caliber smoothbore musket, with a 42-inch (107 cm) barrel and a 54-inch (137 cm) stock, and a total length of 57-inch (145 cm). The Model 1812 was produced only at Springfield: the M1795 would continue in production at Harpers Ferry into 1818. [4]

The Model 1812 was produced in a quantity of almost 30,000 between the years 1814 and 1816. It was replaced by the Model 1816 Musket. However, the Model 1812 remained in service for many years, and was even used in the American Civil War, mostly by the Confederate forces. By the start of the Civil war, the weapon was considered to be old and obsolete but was needed to fill arms shortages. [5]

Some Model 1812 muskets were later converted to percussion lock firing mechanisms. The percussion cap system was much more reliable and weatherproof than the flintlock system used on the Model 1812 in its original configuration.

Preceded by United States Army rifle
1812-1816
Succeeded by

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charleville musket</span> French musket

The Charleville musket was a .69 caliber standard French infantry musket used in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was made in 1717 and was last produced during the 1840s. However, it still saw limited use in conflicts through the mid-19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Springfield Armory</span> National Historic Site of the United States

The Springfield Armory, more formally known as the United States Armory and Arsenal at Springfield located in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts, was the primary center for the manufacture of United States military firearms from 1777 until its closing in 1968. It was the first federal armory and one of the first factories in the United States dedicated to the manufacture of weapons. The site is preserved as the Springfield Armory National Historic Site, Western Massachusetts' only unit of the national park system. It features the world's largest collection of historic American firearms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Springfield Model 1861</span> Rifled musket

The Springfield Model 1861 was a Minié-type rifled musket used by the United States Army during the American Civil War. Commonly referred to as the "Springfield". It was the most widely used Union Army shoulder weapon during the Civil War, favored for its range, accuracy, and reliability.

A rifled musket, rifle musket, or rifle-musket is a type of firearm made in the mid-19th century. Originally the term referred only to muskets that had been produced as a smoothbore weapon and later had their barrels replaced with rifled barrels. The term later included rifles that directly replaced, and were of the same design overall as, a particular model of smoothbore musket.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M1819 Hall rifle</span> Rifle

The M1819 Hall rifle was a single-shot breech-loading rifle designed by John Hancock Hall, patented on May 21, 1811, and adopted by the U.S. Army in 1819. It was preceded by the Harpers Ferry M1803. It used a pivoting chamber breech design and was made with either flintlock or percussion cap ignition systems. The years of production were from the 1820s to the 1840s at the Harpers Ferry Arsenal. This was the first breech-loading rifle to be adopted in large numbers by any nation's army, but not the first breech-loading military rifle – the Ferguson rifle was used briefly by the British Army in the American Revolutionary War. The Hall rifle remained overshadowed by common muskets and muzzleloading rifles which were still prevalent until the Civil War. The early flintlocks were mostly converted to percussion ignition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Model 1816 Musket</span> Musket

The Springfield Model 1816 was a .69 caliber flintlock musket manufactured in the United States during the early 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Springfield Model 1840 flintlock musket</span> Musket

The Springfield Model 1840 was a flintlock musket manufactured by the United States during the mid-19th century. The .69 caliber musket had a 42-inch (107 cm) barrel, an overall length of 58 inches (147 cm), and a weight of 9.8 pounds (4.4 kg). More than 30,000 were produced by the Springfield and Harpers Ferry armories and two independent contractors between 1840 and 1846.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Model 1822 Musket</span> Musket

The Springfield Model 1822 was a .69 caliber flintlock musket manufactured by the United States in the early 19th century.

The Springfield Model 1795 was a .69 caliber flintlock musket manufactured in the late 18th and early 19th centuries in the United States.

The M1841 Mississippi rifle is a muzzle-loading percussion rifle used in the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harper's Ferry flintlock pistol</span> 1805 handgun

The model 1805 U.S. Marshal "Harper's Ferry" flintlock pistol, manufactured at the Harpers Ferry Armory in Virginia, was the first pistol manufactured by an American national armory. It was the standard handgun of the US dragoons during the War of 1812.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richmond rifle</span> Rifled musket

The Richmond rifle was a rifled musket produced by the Richmond Armory in Richmond, Virginia, for use by the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.

During the American Civil War, an assortment of small arms found their way onto the battlefield. Though the muzzleloader percussion cap rifled musket was the most numerous weapon, being standard issue for the Union and Confederate armies, many other firearms, ranging from the single-shot breech-loading Sharps and Burnside rifles to the Spencer and the Henry rifles - two of the world's first repeating rifles - were issued by the hundreds of thousands, mostly by the Union. The Civil War brought many advances in firearms technology, most notably the widespread use of rifled barrels.

The Springfield Model 1835 was a .69 caliber flintlock musket manufactured in the United States during the early 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pistoleer</span> Mounted soldier who uses a pistol

A pistoleer is a mounted soldier trained to use a pistol, or more generally anyone armed with such a weapon. It is derived from pistolier, a French word for an expert marksman.

Springfield musket may refer to any one of several types of small arms produced by the Springfield Armory in Springfield, Massachusetts, for the United States armed forces. In modern times, these muskets are commonly referred to by their date of design followed by the name Springfield. However, U.S. Ordnance Department documentation at the time did not use "Springfield" in the name.

The Harper's Ferry M1803 rifle was the first standard rifle, made by an American armory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Springfield Model 1842</span> Musket

The US Model 1842 Musket was a .69 caliber musket manufactured and used in the United States during the 19th Century. It is a continuation of the Model 1816 line of muskets but is generally referred to as its own model number rather than just a variant of the Model 1816.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Springfield Model 1855</span> Rifled musket

The Springfield Model 1855 was a rifled musket widely used in the American Civil War. It exploited the advantages of the new conical Minié ball, which could be deadly at over 1,000 yards (910 m). It was a standard infantry weapon for Union and Confederates alike, until the Springfield Model 1861 supplanted it, obviating the use of the insufficiently weather resistant Maynard tape primer.

References

  1. "How far is "musket-shot"? Farther than you think". 26 August 2013.
  2. Springfield Armory Weapons Research
  3. "Guns on the Early Frontiers" by Carl P. Russell, Published by U of Nebraska Press, 1980
  4. "Guns of the Old West" by Charles Edward Chapel, Published by Courier Dover Publications, 2002
  5. "A Civil War Treasury" By Albert A. Nofi, Published by Da Capo Press, 1995