Bridesburg Percussion Musket

From the collections of PVMA • Digital image © Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Assoc. • Image use information

About this item

The Bridesburg Machine Works of Bridesburg, Pennsylvania, agreed in late 1861 to produce 75,000 rifle-muskets for the United States military. These weapons replaced the older and less-reliable flintlock technology with the percussion system introduced in the 1840s. Instead of depending on a flint to provide a spark, a small brass cap placed upon a steel nipple provided the small explosion, or “percussion,” that ignited the main gunpowder charge in the barrel. “Rifling” referred to a spiraled groove cut inside the gun’s barrel to provide spin to the bullet and thus improve the bullet’s accuracy and distance traveled. Civil War soldiers still had to load their muskets by pouring and then ramming gunpowder and a bullet down the gun barrel. A member of the 10th Massachusetts Regiment carried this rifle-musket in the Civil War (1861-1865).

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Details

Item typeWeapons
Firearm
Date1862
TopicMilitary, Wars, Battles
EraCivil War and Reconstruction, 1861–1877
EventAmerican Civil War. 1861–1865
MaterialMetal; Wood
Process/FormatMetalworking
Dimension detailsBarrel: 39.25 in Stock: 10.25 in
Catalog #1930.02.02
View this item in our curatorial database →
Bridesburg Percussion Musket. 1862. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/1930-02-02/. Accessed on December 7, 2024.

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