Sorting out the history of FL rifles/muskets

[AugustWest1781]

First off, if I've got this in the wrong sub-forum, please forgive me. I couldn't figure any other sub-forum for this, but I am open to suggestions.

I am new to flintlocks, and enjoying my Lyman GPR .50 Flintlock. Have long been interested in the history of the Revolutionary War. Read a great book not long ago by Gen. John Galvin ("The Minute Men") about the real story of what led up to the Lexington and Concord battles. Lots of great info in that book, all researched from original town archives, etc, but if he described the muskets and rifles in detail, I must have missed it. So, now I'm trying to sort this all out in my mind, and I'm coming up really confused.

Before I ask anything else, let me ask this: Is the term "musket" a generic term for a smoothbore longarm, or is it a generic term implying something else?

Of the folks living here from the early to mjid-1700's on through the early 1800's, who had rifles and who had muskets, and in a general sense, what did they use them for? I am thinking that guys interested primarily in hunting would have had rifled barrels. And it seems that the muskets were used in the military all the way up until at least the 1840's. Galvin's book describes battles with the Indians all the way back to the 1600's in New England. I am guessing that muskets were used as the primary long arm of the military, and I am further assuming that they took advantage of tactics that had ranks of men doing volley fire. OK, that makes sense, but does that mean most guys had muskets, and if so, did they have them for military service and yet use a rifled barrel long arm for hunting? Can you use a smoothbore musket for hunting?

I live in Lancaster, PA and I know that this area was part of the great PA longrifle birthplace. I have been to the PA Longrifle Museum, although I want to go back once I know a little more about this stuff. When we talk about the master gun builders of the 1700's in southcentral and southeastern PA, are we talking about rifle makers, or are we talking about flintlock long arm makers who made smoothbores and rifles?

So many questions. I am so confused. Sorry. But hey, thanks for any ideas and info!

 

[Coot]

Well you have covered a lot of ground in one post and I will try to hit on a few highlights. If your post gets moved, my reply will move with it and since you did ask about a lot, perhaps "general" is as good a place as any.

"Musket" as a term is normally a reference to a military or military styled smoothbore longarm, often fitted to hold a socket bayonet (some early ones used plug bayonets which fit into the bore). A "fowler" refers to a civilian smoothbore longarm which as the name suggests, was often used as a hunting gun for wild fowl. Fowlers typically were lighter and less robust than muskets as they were intended primarily for sporting use vs combat abuse.

The military used weapons designed by/for themselves - typically muskets. Civilians (including militia) could be armed with fowlers, old muskets or rifles. Fowlers are generally under represented at many contemporary events and were very common guns - capable of hunting birds and small game with shot and, by using a patched round ball, suitable for deer and other game, as well as meeting the requirements for militia musters. If not particularly interested in hunting or on a tight budget, civilians might have an old musket which would serve for militia musters and still handle home defense, and while less handy to carry & swing on a bird or rabbit, still capable of hunting at closer ranges than a rifle (then & now). Rifles served primarily for hunting at longer ranges and were more often in the hands of those on the western frontier (Blue Ridge) where large game was less hunted out.

PA was home to many of the early gunsmiths in what was to become the US and most of the focus on their history is on rifles. If you have the talent to make a rifle, you could certainly make a fowler or pistol but I think the market (and the guns made for that market) was mostly for guns that met certain domestic needs and could not be imported more cheaply than made here. Muskets, fowlers and pistols were common in England and the Continent and due to both cheaper labor and well established gunmaking centers, it was easier & less expensive to import many of these guns rather than producing them here. The American Longrifle is called that for a reason - it was a form that was not common in Europe and so building a gun to meet mostly American requirements became a local industry, spreading in large part along the 'Great Wagon Road' from PA down into the Carolinas.

As with any generalization or thumbnail sketch, there are exceptions to the above but I think that overall you should be pointed in the right direction. You might enjoy a copy of "Of Sorts for Provincials" by Jim Mullins - good overview and lots of sharp pictures & not an expensive book.