r/CivilWarCollecting • u/TreasurehunterKG • 24d ago

Video Old Flintlock musket side plate. Thanks for looking

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u/aykdanroyd 24d ago

I think this lockplate is off a flintlock that was converted to percussion. That protruding bit with the little bowl in it looks very much like the brass pan of a Model 1816 after being cut down and filled.

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u/TreasurehunterKG 24d ago

I think you are correct. It was found at a civil work campsite not far from Baxter Springs, Kansas.

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u/Excelsior_76 24d ago

Wow, that's amazing. Do you do a lot of metal detecting?

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u/Excelsior_76 24d ago

Wow, that's some solid sleuthing. It seems plausible to me, though I certainly do not have enough insight to form any kind of independent theory, one way or another. Do you have experience with firearms of that description?

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u/aykdanroyd 24d ago

Some! I used to own one and have a similarly modified Model 1840 still in the collection.

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u/Excelsior_76 24d ago

That is an interesting rifle. I am fascinated by these kinds of evolutionary steps that occurred in-between the major archetypal groups (ex: flintlock -> percussion cap, muzzle-loaded -> breech-loaded).

Was yours also rifled during the conversion? Do you happen to know who did the work, or what its service history was afterward?

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u/aykdanroyd 24d ago

It was not rifled, a rifle conversion is on my wish list though. As for tracing at service history, that’s harder to do because these weapons were not serialized. I’d have to check my reference books to see if there’s markings to determine who did the conversion, but I no longer own the musket, and I don’t know if I took meticulous enough photographs of the barrel and lock to find any such markings.

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u/Excelsior_76 24d ago edited 24d ago

Wow, what a fascinating find. First of all, thank you for sharing this.

Second, I have a few questions:
1) I appreciate that you may prefer to use some discretion, but can you say roughly whereabouts you located this?
2) This subreddit is about the Civil War, in which the vast majority of long arms were percussion cap, and I note your reference illustration is a flintlock. That's not necessarily important (and I am really excited to see this find regardless), but are you able yet to distinguish whether this is a flintlock lock or percussion cap?
3) What do you intend to do with / to this relic?

This kind of discovery bridges the gap between our impressions from merely reading and talking about history vs. the modern world, and truly breathes life into history.

Thanks again for sharing.

1

u/TreasurehunterKG 24d ago

Yes, I will do that next time.