Hi everyone,
After finishing the Brown Bess rebuild a few weeks ago (
Rebuilding an old Indian made 1756 Brown Bess Musket) I've decided to start another project, rebuilding an old Indian made M1728 French musket. I recently picked this up from a reenactor.
It's surprisingly well built. Very heavy but also very sturdy. The lock is actually very well made and the inletting of the stock was well done. However, as with most repros (especially the Indian made ones), this thing is super heavy. The stock is extremely thick as well as the barrel, but the trigger guard and lock aren't too bad.
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According to some of the books I've read, a M1728 should weigh in at just over 9lbs (or about 4200 grams). This thing currently weighs in about 12lbs! So a whole lot of material to remove. Even if I go overboard with barrel and stock removal, I suspect that this replica musket will still weigh a bit more than an original simply due to some of the materials like the teakwood stock. I'll also leave a bit more metal in the barrel for safety. Here's a rough look at some of the differences for each part in weight. I don't have an original musket to measure, so I'm basing the ideal weight off of what I've read in Dieder Bianchi's book - and then some rough guestimations.
| Part | Weight in grams | Ideal weight g | Difference g | Percentage |
| Rammer | 255 | 255 | 0 | 100% |
| Barrel | 3016 | 2150 | 866 | 71.29% |
| Front Barrel Band | 48 | 35 | 13 | 72.92% |
| Middle Barrel Band | 39.6 | 30 | 9.6 | 75.76% |
| Rear Barrrl Band | 42.5 | 30 | 12.5 | 70.59% |
| Trigger guard | 147.5 | 140 | 7.5 | 94.92% |
| Lock assembly | 524.5 | 520 | 4.5 | 99.14% |
| Stock and buttplate | 1431.5 | 1000 | 431.5 | 69.86% |
| TOTAL | 5504.6 | 4160 | 1344.6 | 75.57% |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| Part | Weight in lbs | Ideal weight lbs | Difference lbs | Percentage |
| Rammer | 0.561 | 0.561 | 0 | 100% |
| Barrel | 6.6352 | 4.73 | 1.9052 | 71.29% |
| Front Barrel Band | 0.1056 | 0.077 | 0.0286 | 72.92% |
| Middle Barrel Band | 0.08712 | 0.066 | 0.02112 | 75.76% |
| Rear Barrrl Band | 0.0935 | 0.066 | 0.0275 | 70.59% |
| Trigger guard | 0.3245 | 0.308 | 0.0165 | 94.92% |
| Lock assembly | 1.1539 | 1.144 | 0.0099 | 99.14% |
| Stock and buttplate | 3.1493 | 2.2 | 0.9493 | 69.86% |
| TOTAL | 12.11012 | 9.152 | 2.95812 | 75.57% |
The closest musket I have to use for reference is a M1766/68 Charleville, which is quite light and slender. I know the earlier muskets did tend to be a bit more beefy, but from what I've seen in reference books, it seems like most of that extra weight was found in the buttstock and wrist area while the forestocks tended to be similarly slender. Please correct me if I'm wrong about any of these assumptions. I'll be using photos to guide me for the area from the lock to buttplate, and then I'll reference measurements (understanding the difference in length) for the barrel and forestock.
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So far, the only thing I've done was to clean up the lock a little bit. A bevel was added to the edges and some other parts like the cock were sharpened and the surface of the lockplate was flattened. The cock and topjaw are a bit narrower than an original, but I can live with it for now! The only major thing that will need to be changed, is the frizzen. The pivot point of the frizen was drilled a bit too low, so there is a slight gap in the pan when closed. I will have to add a small piece of brass or steel to the bottom of the pan cover to make up for this gap.
An additional note on this piece - is that the frizzen spring is totally the wrong shape and size. I was thinking of ordering a replacement at first, but my current plan is to age it up to look a bit more "homemade", since this musket will be used for a Revolutionary War Massachusetts Militia impression, and so a "blacksmith made" replacement frizzen spring may actually add a little bit of authenticity to it. On that note, I'm also thinking of giving the finished musket a patina to look like it's been used (but well cared for) for 25 years as a F&I bring back.
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Next step will be to work on the barrel. I'm not 100% sure to what extent I'll be thinning the barrel quite yet - the bore is slightly undersized and the exterior wall toward the muzzle end is oversized. I think I will try to file the exterior shape to size (although it may be way more effort than it's worth) and leave the bore diameter undersized for extra safety.
If anyone has any measurements for any of the parts for a M1728 I would greatly appreciate the help!
