The Fremont

[nkbj]

Do any of you fellas hunt with a Fremont, the 33" version of the 1842 Springfield?

 

[BillinOregon]

Hope someone pipes up. I have been intrigued by this particular rifle musket since I first heard about them.

 

[Steve Blancard]

I dont hunt, but I do have one by Armisport. It's a very cool rifle. Here it us next to my m1842 smoothbore.

 

[Notchy Bob]

I dont hunt, but I do have one by Armisport. It's a very cool rifle. Here it us next to my m1842 smoothbore.View attachment 27968

Steve, you lucky dog! Those are hard to get! Lodgewood Mfg. had a used one in pristine condition a while back, at a fair price, but I waffled one day too long, and missed it.

I do have one of the full length M1842 smoothbores, though, defarbed by Todd Watt. It is one of my "keepers."

For the OP, there are several discussions of the "Fremont" rifles on the various Civil War boards, including the N-SSA Forum. Try Googling "1842 fremont rifle" and you should get a lot of hits.

I'm pretty sure the Fremont rifle has been discussed here, too. A quick search out to show what's here.

I saw an antique catalog recently which I believe listed a short-barreled smoothbore version of the M1842. It was not cut down, but was made that way. I think those are quite rare.

Notchy Bob

 

[nkbj]

I dont hunt, but I do have one by Armisport. It's a very cool rifle. Here it us next to my m1842 smoothbore.View attachment 27968

Hey Steve.
What sort of bore diameter did they give you? Mine is almost a seventy cal at 0.696". Due to the minie rifling it's been tough finding a round ball load. I dang near had more grooves cut to make it more RB friendly.

Had a #68569 altered (with larger diameter bands and increased length of bearing surface) to work as lubed lead and long years ago a #57730 turned into a smooth sided for paper patch.

I really love the piece and so thought I'd ask if folks are hunting with them.
Over the years kinda threatened to brown the action, rear sight, barrel and bands but never have.

 

[Steve Blancard]

Its been a while, but I think I used a .690" minie last. The bore is a bit big. I've also been playing with a similar, navy Plymouth musket. This is the only US musket made new as a .69 cal rifled musket. A very cool piece. Shown here with the Fremont.

 

[gemmer]

I built this one. It came to me as a smoothbore with a 26" barrel. I had Bobby Hoyt rifle it with 3 grooves, .687 bore. I wanted it to resemble a Confederate carbine made from a rifled musket. I added the long range rear sight and a barrel mounted front sight as well as additional sling swivels. It shoots the Rapine semi wadcutter minie or a patched .672 ball.

 

[BillinOregon]

Any more Fremont talk, boys and girls? What an unusual musket, with power for anything in North America.

 

[Steve Blancard]

I still have mine and a Whitney plymouth rifle. They plymouth is quite similar.

 

[nkbj]

Loads of fun.

Best pun available with only two cups of coffee.

 

[nkbj]

The Lyman minie, cavity modified to fit the Armisport barrel and the front band lengthened to improve alignment.

 

[Notchy Bob]

I like the looks of the Fremont. Was there ever an original smoothbored M1842 in that short barrel length? Seems like I've heard of an "Artillery Model" or something like that, but I'm not sure, and they must have been uncommon.

Notchy Bob

 

[nkbj]

I don't know Bob. The rifled version with the 33" barrel is pretty handy so I'd imagine it could have made a great smoothbore for military use. Maybe buckshot to help make life miserable for cavalry incursions could have been useful too for the artillery guys? Wouldn't be surprised if somebody used a two foot barrel version before the war was over.

When shooting round ball in that big bore with its shallow rifling* I found that hard cast balls resting on top of the lands worked better than trying to get patched soft lead balls to evenly seat into the grooves. The length of the perimeter of a soft lead ball that your trying to deform on the lands amounts to around an inch of lead. Perhaps a coned muzzle would help that but if it was coned then it would cease to be a minie shooter. I guess like everything in life there's pluses and minuses. But if you had a rifled barrel and loaded something like #4 buck for close range no doubt you could throw a pretty got cloud.

*Three lands and three 0.004" grooves of equal width.

 

[Notchy Bob]

I don't know Bob. The rifled version with the 33" barrel is pretty handy so I'd imagine it could have made a great smoothbore for military use. Maybe buckshot to help make life miserable for cavalry incursions could have been useful too for the artillery guys? Wouldn't be surprised if somebody used a two foot barrel version before the war was over.

When shooting round ball in that big bore with its shallow rifling* I found that hard cast balls resting on top of the lands worked better than trying to get patched soft lead balls to evenly seat into the grooves. The length of the perimeter of a soft lead ball that your trying to deform on the lands amounts to around an inch of lead. Perhaps a coned muzzle would help that but if it was coned then it would cease to be a minie shooter. I guess like everything in life there's pluses and minuses. But if you had a rifled barrel and loaded something like #4 buck for close range no doubt you could throw a pretty got cloud.

*Three lands and three 0.004" grooves of equal width.

That is a very informative post. Thank you! I would be interested in the ball diameter relative to bore (land to land) diameter, and patch thickness, if possible. EDIT: I see from one of your previous posts (#5, above) that the bore diameter of your rifle is a bit oversized, at 0.696”.

I really know very little about the Fremont rifles, and I have tried to research them. One fellow on the N-SSA forum, who had evidently examined an original, stated that the grooves were deeper than would be expected for Minie bullets, suggesting the originals may have been designed to shoot patched round balls. I have been unable to confirm that, but it is an intriguing possibility.

Thanks for your input, my friend. It sounds as if you have invested time and thought into load development for this interesting but little-known military arm.

Notchy Bob