Replacing model 1855 lock with an original?

[jek279]

I have an model 1855 Springfield .58 rifle musket with the non working tape primer system. How hard is it to switch this lock out fo an original?

[ian45662]

Have you priced origional 1855 locks?

[jek279]

Yes, price is not the big picture. How hard is it to put an original lock in a reproduction model 55?

[ian45662]

You probably wouldnt know until you got one. It would just depend on how close the repro plate matches the orgional plate. May just drop right in or it may require some fitting with some inleting black. The lock bolts wouldnt have to be exact but they would have to be somewhat close.

[Mike Stein]

It's a depends on the reproduction. I know it does not work with Armi Sport.

[R. McAuley 3014V]

It will work with the earlier production of the ArmiSport Richmond but at some point (maybe when they introduced the 1855 repro), Armi-Sport reconfigured their breech to prevent people from converting the lock over to using original locks. I have a ArmiSport Richmond so converted to a Type I (high hump) Richmond, and have a SAC card for it.

[Mike Stein]

It be interesting to know more of why Armi-Sport felt compelled to do that as the plate profile and bolster cut-out are now very different then original. Can you confirm that Euroarms and Pedersoli profiles are standard enough to take original locks?

[Ron/The Old Reb]

Probably so you will have to buy their parts. Like Dixie dose with some of their muskets that use a 15/16 X 20 nipple that nobody else sells.

[Charlie Hahn]

There are two parts to fitting. First check the bolster, If it has a straight back edge in the vertical plane it may never be a good fit. The original 55 locks have a radius and the bolster needs to sit in this radius. Some of the barrels are metal heavy and will allow this radius to be filed and still fit. So check the bolster first as this might make it a no-go.

The next is to see if it is wood safe. With the bolster fitted, you can over lay and see what the outer edge of the lock mortise looks like. If it has gaps you will need to decide of glass to fit is acceptable for you.

Once you have this information you can begin the fitting, bolster to plate first, then deal with the wood.

Hope this helps

Charlie Hahn

[R. McAuley 3014V]

http://www.oldsouthantiques.com/945-1.htm

The sixth photo down in the link above shows the rear of the bolster, illustrating how close the “hump” shoulder meets with the rear of the bolster, where on an M1861 Springfield is separated by a heat or flash shield, which is absent on the M1855.

http://www.collegehillarsenal.com/shop/product.php?productid=358

Third and fourth photos in the link above reveal the inletting for the lock, further revealing that the stock like the “longer leg” mainspring were salvaged from a M1861 Springfield. Besides the vertical cut in the stock for the M1861 lock, some of you may have noticed the little sliver of wood extending just behind the M1861 mainspring, this sliver of wood would not have been present had the stock been made for a C.S. Richmond utilizing the M1855 “short leg” mainspring, so may be from a captured and salvaged musket.

Paul Davies C.S. Richmond Armory features photo-illustrations of the inletting for both the Richmond musket and M1855 musket to assist collectors in distinguishing between these models so to detect both “fakes” and other spurious examples. Though the photo provided by the link below is not to Davies’ book, you can see more of the internal details in the inletting noted above compared to the College Hill example, as well as the interior components of a Richmond lock with the Richmond stirrup and “short leg” mainspring. The replica C.S. Richmond locks as are made by Brian Haack and others are specially made to use original M1861 internal parts, not original M1855 or C.S. Richmond parts.

http://www.championhillrelics.com/62newrichlockplate3.jpg

http://www.championhillrelics.com/62newrichlockplate4.jpg

http://www.championhillrelics.com/62newrich19.jpg

With respects to what replica muskets are nearest a real Richmond or M1855 musket as might permit such a conversion as is discussed above, both the ArmiSport and Euroarms Richmond had utilized the same barrel design as their M1861 musket excepting the rear right. Each feature a “heat shield” behind the nipple aspart of the bolster, which is absent from both the M1855 and Richmond muskets; a function performed by the raised “hump” of the earlier M1855 and Richmond muskets. By comparison with the Pedersoli, it would appear that the latter maybe the only replica maker to fabricate this portion of the Richmond near correct (see links below), but their "hump" is still covered over by exposed wood. Just how accurate the Pedersoli Richmond is as far as its interchangeability with original parts remains to be determined.

http://www.davide-pedersoli.com/uploads/immagini_gallerie/big/860acciarino_richmond.jpg

http://www.davide-pedersoli.com/uploads/immagini_gallerie/big/222punzoni_richmond.jpg