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

Springfield Armory 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 ...

. The War of 1812 revealed many weaknesses in the earlier

Model 1795 Musket The Springfield Model 1795 was a .69 caliber flintlock musket manufactured in the late 18th and early 19th centuries in the United States. The Model 1795 was the first musket to be produced in the United States by Eli Whitney at both the Springf ...

. 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. 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 A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non- professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

units. The Model 1812 was a .69 caliber

smoothbore A smoothbore weapon is one that has a barrel without rifling. Smoothbores range from handheld firearms to powerful tank guns and large artillery mortars. History Early firearms had smoothly bored barrels that fired projectiles without s ...

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. 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 The Springfield Model 1816 was a .69 caliber flintlock musket manufactured in the United States during the early 19th century. History The War of 1812 had revealed many weaknesses in American muskets. The Springfield Model 1812 was created i ...

. However, the Model 1812 remained in service for many years, and was even used in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by state ...

, mostly by the

Confederate forces The military forces of the Confederate States, also known as Confederate forces, were the military services responsible for the defense of the Confederacy during its existence (1861–1865). Organization The military forces of the Confederate ...

. By the start of the Civil war, the weapon was considered to be old and obsolete but was needed to fill arms shortages."A Civil War Treasury" By Albert A. Nofi, Published by Da Capo Press, 1995 Some Model 1812 muskets were later converted to percussion lock firing mechanisms. The

percussion cap The percussion cap or percussion primer, introduced in the early 1820s, is a type of single-use percussion ignition device for muzzle loader firearm locks enabling them to fire reliably in any weather condition. This crucial invention gave rise ...

system was much more reliable and

weatherproof ''Weatherproof'' is the debut EP by American hip hop artist Cage. It was released on Eastern Conference Records on July 29, 2003. It was released between his two collaboration albums with Camu Tao (Nighthawks, 2002) and Tame One (Waterworld ...

than the flintlock system used on the Model 1812 in its original configuration.

List of individual weapons of the U.S. Armed Forces This is a list of weapons served individually by the United States armed forces. While the general understanding is that crew-served weapons require more than one person to operate them, there are important exceptions in the case of both squad a ...

List of wars involving the United States This is a list of wars and rebellions involving the United States of America. Currently, there are 107 wars on this list, 3 of which are ongoing. : : : : 18th-century wars 19th-century wars 20th-century wars 21st-century wars ...

* Military history of the United States *

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is ...

* Military of the Confederate States of America *

Charleville 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 centur ...

Brown Bess "Brown Bess" is a nickname of uncertain origin for the British Army's muzzle-loading smoothbore flintlock Land Pattern Musket and its derivatives. The musket design remained in use for over a hundred years with many incremental changes in its ...

* Potzdam Musket 1723 *

M1752 Musket The M1752 Musket was a muzzle-loading firearm invented in 1752 and used by the Spanish Army from then until it was widely replaced by the much more effective Minié rifles during the mid-19th century. The M1752 was the first standardized lon ...

Springfield musket 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 d ...

Harpers Ferry Model 1803 The Harper's Ferry M1803 rifle was the first standard rifle (as opposed to a smoothbore musket), made by an American armory. History Rifles existed long before the 17th century, but were rarely used by military forces. In order to be effectiv ...

M1819 Hall rifle The M1819 Hall rifle was a single-shot breech-loading rifle (also considered something of a hybrid breech and muzzle-loading design) designed by John Hancock Hall, patented on May 21, 1811, and adopted by the U.S. Army in 1819. It was preceded ...

Pattern 1853 Enfield The Enfield Pattern 1853 rifle-musket (also known as the Pattern 1853 Enfield, P53 Enfield, and Enfield rifle-musket) was a .577 calibre Minié-type muzzle-loading rifled musket, used by the British Empire from 1853 to 1867; after which many we ...

Springfield Rifle The term Springfield rifle 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 usage, the term "Springfield rifle" most commonly refer ...

Richmond rifle 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. Background At the start of the American Civil War, the Confederacy suffered from a ...

* Fayetteville rifle *

Musket A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket graduall ...

* Rifle *

Carbine A carbine ( or ) is a long gun that has a barrel shortened from its original length. Most modern carbines are rifles that are compact versions of a longer rifle or are rifles chambered for less powerful cartridges. The smaller size and light ...

Historical reenactment Historical reenactment (or re-enactment) is an educational entertainment, educational or entertainment activity in which mainly amateur hobbyists and history enthusiasts dress in historic uniforms or costumes and follow a plan to recreate aspect ...

American Civil War reenactment American Civil War reenactment is an effort to recreate the appearance of a particular battle or other event associated with the American Civil War by hobbyists known (in the United States) as Civil War reenactors, or living historians. Alt ...

References

{{USCWWeapons Muskets Weapons of the Confederate States of America American Civil War weapons Firearms of the United States Springfield firearms

See also

References