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Springfield Model 1840 flintlock musket
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<p>The Springfield Model 1840 was a <a href="/facts/Flintlock/DQ2jMARj">flintlock</a> <a href="/facts/Musket/YmnMv1F2">musket</a> <a href="/facts/Manufacturing/3qW7bcdy">manufactured</a> by the <a href="/facts/United_States/P0sCdLe5">United States</a> during the mid-19th century. The .69 <a href="/facts/Caliber/q4hhaID2">caliber</a> musket had a 42-inch (107 cm) <a href="/facts/Gun_barrel/bPyBmQek">barrel</a>, 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 <a href="/facts/Springfield_Armory/wk5kUfCX">Springfield</a> and <a href="/facts/Harpers_Ferry_Armory/hADGWcxT">Harpers Ferry</a> armories and two independent <a href="/facts/Defense_contractor/A8mywI9w">contractors</a> between 1840 and 1846 (D. Nippes and L. Pomeroy). </p><p>The Model 1840 was a minor improvement over the <a href="/facts/Springfield_Model_1835/xaconUne">Springfield Model 1835</a>, and therefore was not dramatically different from the older <a href="/facts/Musket/YmnMv1F2">musket</a>. The Model 1840 featured a longer <a href="/facts/Bayonet/YMU1F4IT">bayonet</a> with a <a href="/facts/Fastener/earBwoS6">clasp</a> and a <a href="/facts/Stock_(firearms)/PgD8ochN">stock</a> with a comb. The designers of the Model 1840 anticipated that the musket would eventually be <a href="/facts/Rifling/63UWYEdX">rifled</a>, and made the barrel heavier than the earlier Model 1835 accordingly. The various modifications to the Model 1840 made it slightly heavier than the Model 1835. </p><p>The Model 1840 was the last <a href="/facts/Flintlock/DQ2jMARj">flintlock</a> musket produced at Springfield and Harpers Ferry armories. Many were converted to <a href="/facts/Percussion_lock/kvj5E8ac">percussion lock</a> before they made it to the field. Although produced as a <a href="/facts/Smoothbore/T6z0unC3">smoothbore</a> musket, most of the Model 1840s had their barrels rifled later, as the designers had anticipated. </p>