An AWI Rifle Musket?

[Artificer]

Spence’s recent thread on a Committee of Safety musket got me to thinking of another such gun.

To my mind, one of the most interesting Committee of Safety "Style"/American built muskets is listed in "Rifles of Colonial America, Volume II" by George Shumway. It is number 140, the “Liberty or Deth” gun and attributed to the Lehigh Valley in PA. If I may so bold, it looks to me like the quintessential answer to the question, "What would a Musket look like that was built by a gunsmith who normally built rifles?"

It has a 6 1/8 inch long rounded lock and British Military style sideplate that might have come off a military Carbine, by the length of the lock. The barrel is listed as “Round Smoothbore, 41 ¾ inches long, .62 caliber” so it probably was not a re-used Military Barrel. The barrel has a French/Dutch style bayonet lug on the bottom of the barrel and front sight mounted a little further to the rear than normal, for the bayonet to be mounted. There is also a projection at the rear of the trigger that has puzzled me. I strongly suspect it was not for decoration only. I wonder if that projection was meant to “tell” the shooter his trigger finger was BEHIND the actual trigger during low light or darkness? I could be hugely wrong about that, though.

What strongly GRABBED my attention, when I first saw it, is the fact it has a patchbox on it!!!! I thought, “WTH is a PATCHBOX doing on a Musket?!!!” I looked at this gun many times in Shumway’s book and could not see the rear sight on it until I saw the gun listed somewhere else on the internet.

Fortunately, TOW has this gun illustrated in their online catalog, though you can not see the finer details as can be seen with the book in front of you. http://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/294/1/BOOK-RCA-V2

Since Shumway photographed this gun, the interior of the barrel has been more closely examined and traces of rifling have been found in it. Of course that begs the question was this a RIFLE when it was first built and reamed smooth DURING or AFTER the AWI? If this had been a rifle and used in the AWI as a rifle, it is remarkable in the fact it is possible to fit a common style socket bayonet to it. This would have been a HUGE advantage almost never enjoyed by other Riflemen in the AWI. (This is decades before the U.S. M1814 Rifle with Socket Bayonet came out.) If it had been a rifle and been reamed smooth during the war, it is still a very unusual piece. Of course, it MAY have been reamed smooth after the AWI in compliance with later Militia Acts.

Unfortunately, we may probably never know if this gun was a Rifle during the AWI and built to take a Socket Bayonet from the time when it was built. If it was, it seems to be a “One Of” or at most one of very few such American Long Rifles originally built for the AWI and very futuristic for the time. I have to admit I like to think that either some far thinking Customer or the Gunsmith (or both), gave a lot of thought to making a Military Rifle that had a socket bayonet, though that might just be wishful thinking on my part.

Gus

 

[Artificer]

Oh, a note to the Moderators. I really wasn't sure if I should post this in the Smoothbore or Flintlock Rifle Section. Since the gun IS smoothbore in current condition, I decided to put it here.

Gus

 

[tenngun]

I THINK that lots of guns were made from a hodge pough of parts. People didn't live in a throw away society then. I would love to know the history of the gun. An American officers fusil??? Thrown together with what he could get? If walls or barrels could talk what stories would we hear?

 

[Artificer]

I THINK that lots of guns were made from a hodge pough of parts. People didn't live in a throw away society then. I would love to know the history of the gun. An American officers fusil??? Thrown together with what he could get? If walls or barrels could talk what stories would we hear?

That is an interesting idea. Have to admit I never thought of this as a possibility for an Officer's Fusil. It MAY have been a Militia Officer's gun because it would have cost more than a fowler or plain musket, though. I can imagine someone with both Military and Rifle experience having this gun specially made up as "bespoke work."

Gus

 

[Rifleman1776]

I THINK that lots of guns were made from a hodge pough of parts. People didn't live in a throw away society then. I would love to know the history of the gun. An American officers fusil??? Thrown together with what he could get? If walls or barrels could talk what stories would we hear?

In the years prior to the actually start of the AWI, especially in more southern small towns, the English could not maintain large armies. Therefore only smaller detachments were used to patrol and keep the citizens subdued. These were often led by sergeants rather than high ranking officers. To keep their arms working and supplied with ammunition local blacksmiths and craftsmen were utilized to do this work. Of course, they were not paid. Moulds for casting were given to the craftsmen to do the casting but were taken back afterwards. It was illegal for the citizens to keep any of the balls, punishable by whatever order the seargent decided, up to death. Same with repairs to the arms. However, many times extras would be made and hidden. In this way some citizens were able to make enough parts and ammunition to later assemble and use for the revolution. Not much of stretch to believe this musket was a product of a scenario just like that. We should never lose sight of the the brave and hardy stock Americans are descended from. Did I hear someone say "birth of the 2nd Amendment"? atriot:

 

[Artificer]

First to everyone,

When I checked the link above before posting, the image of the two pages in Shumway's book appears with the mentioned rifle. However, if it does not work and you get a picture of the front of the book instead, just click "View 3" to get a view of both pages that list the gun.

Besides the Lock and Sideplate that may have come from a British Military Carbine, it also looks like the Trigger Guard came from one or was copied from one as well. The top of the buttplate seems just a bit familiar to me, though I don't think it came from even a special purchase standard military Carbine. (Going to have to crack the books on that.) Possibly the top was "re-worked" more into a style the gunsmith liked.

Gus