Spanish Musket for I.D.

[rickystl]

Hello all. A fellow collector owns this. It is "supposedly" a 1741 Spanish Dragoon Musket. It is iron mounted. The muzzle was cut back sometime in the period, and is missing the front barrel band. Would sure like to know what the front band looked like. The gun was purchased in Florida, and the "story" has it that it was brought back from Cuba from Continental soldiers. Of course, that's just the story. Can anyone put a positive I.D. on this piece? Thanks, Rick.

 

[dave_person]

Hi Ricky,
The gun looks like a mix of things. Maybe it was some sort of transition gun using a mix of older and newer parts. It is certainly Spanish with a lock probably from the 1730-50s. They abandoned the traditional Spanish lock for French-style locks during the first half of the 18th century, when the country was ruled by the French Bourbons. The buttplate and trigger guard look to be from the same period (1730-1750s) but the barrel bands impress me as being newer. They look like those used on French carbines in the 1760s. Anyway, it is an interesting gun. I could not tell you what the front barrel band should look like. It might be similar to a French carbine from the 1760s.

dave

 

[rickystl]

Hi Dave. As usual, thanks for your comments and insights. Agreeded, this is an interesting gun that points to pre-1750. At first glance, it looked like a 1752/57 Musket - but with a "dragoon type" middle barrel band?? But I noticed the rear sling swival is mounted on the triggerguard vs the butt stock (like the 1757). Hmmmm. Early 1690ish French Dragoons had the long middle barrel band, but the sling swivals were mounted on the side of the gun. This Spanish piece has them mounted on the bottom. So, your French type 1760 Carbine theory may be correct? The interesting thing is the mounts are all iron. Even though the barrel band springs are missing, the owner says you can tell the barrel bands were original to the gun. Thanks again Dave. Rick.