WTK - Where can I find repro parts for a M1842 Palmetto musket

[RaccoonRough Spence]

I am considering taking an AS 1842 smoothbore musket and turning it into a 1842 brass mounted Palmetto Musket.

I know the lock plates are out there............but where can I find a brass trigger guard, side plate, and barrel bands? Also, will I need a brass butt plate? Or do I just wipe the "US" off the steel one and have it stamped?

Thanks for any guidance.

RR

[rachbobo]

Just a thought but have you considered having the parts Brass electroplated for the Brass look.
Probably a whole lot cheaper and quicker.

Bill Cheek
Cockade Rifles

[Dave Fox]

The only brass on Pametto muskets were the barrel bands, and not even on all. All the rest is more-or-less straight M.1842. S&S lists brass bands, unfinished. (718) 497-1100. If unavailable there, The Rifle Shoppe is a source. (405) 396-2583, tho' the latter can be very slow, indeed.
Lodgewood may have replica Palmetto-stamped lockplates...(262) 473 5444. Todd Watts, who I believe operates through Blockade Runner Sutler (937) 389 6294 or John Zimmerman (304) 535-2558 might be able to restamp your lockplate. They also may be able to restamp "SC" on your buttplate and substitute the proper palmetto tree proof and Glaze stampings on your barrel.

Many Palmettos were all iron mounted, tho' admittedly the brass bands are distinctive and sexier. Some still boasted "US" buttplates.

[RaccoonRough Spence]

Just a thought but have you considered having the parts Brass electroplated for the Brass look. Probably a whole lot cheaper and quicker.Bill CheekCockade Rifles

where would one get this done?

[RaccoonRough Spence]

The only brass on (some) Pametto muskets were the barrel bands. All the rest is more-or-less straight M.1842. S&S lists them, unfinished. (718) 497-1100. if unavailable there, The Rifle Shoppe is a source. (405) 396-2583, tho' the latter can be very slow, indeed. Lodgewood may have replica Palmetto-stamped lockplates...(262) 473 5444.

thanks for your reply and suggestions. RR

[rachbobo]

where would one get this done?

I'd suggest doing an internet search. I did a quick one and found do it yourself kits and vendors you can ship to.
But do one of your own to find someone close to you.

Bill Cheek
Cockade Rifles

[GPM]

The Palmetto lock plates that Lodgewood sells are made for original internal parts, You may want to ask them if armi sport parts will fit and if it will fit the lock mortise before you buy. The brass bands that S&S sells are the correct unstepped bands. The last time I talked with the Rifle Shoppe their bands were just standard 1842 bands cast in brass. This could have changed though.

[Dave Fox]

The story of William Glaze and his Palmetto Armory is fiendishly complex and controversial; it was controversial in 1853 and is no less controversial now. It involves deeply his partner Benjamin Flagg and the Asa Waters musket-making machinery. Glaze provided his contract muskets to South Carolina utilizing surplus Waters/Flagg parts admixed with parts manufactured at his Columbia facility. Some claim he made no muskets in Columbia. This appears untrue: advertisements exist wherein he sought walnut planks and at least one Columbia newspaper reporter watched weapons in production. Suffice to say I've inspected Pametto muskets with iron bands, one with stepped brass bands, and solid brass bands.

You could put a conversion kit together: lock, bands, etc., and be able to switch your weapon's identity back and forth. Parts acquisition could be made over time as your pocketbook allowed. And, as an aside, I believe gunsmith Rich Cross also produces Palmetto lockplates.

[RaccoonRough Spence]

There is an original Palmetto Musket for sale about half way down on this web page. This original one has a long range rear site, and mentions that it is the only one that has been found with this rear site.

However if it does appear to have originally had a rear sight, what would be the chances of getting a repro Palmetto Musket with the same rear sight approved by the N-SSA?


http://civilwarshop.com/

RR