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So with the 19th coming up soon , a thread about the firearms used at the battles of Lexington and Concord seems appropriate.
Muskets...some folks say....
Yes , I reply...but which ones...?
The English used what is commonly called a Brown Bess musket.
Some claim that the name refers to the dark brown walnut stock used....
Others say that the name Bess is referencing a prostitute....
Take yer pick here....it was before my time in the Army....so I can't say for sure.
At the time of the battle in question the English were using the Long Land Pattern of 1722...
With a 46 inch barrel and a caliber of .75- .80
Along with the Short Land Pattern of 1768 with a 42 inch barrel and again a caliber of .75 - .80.
The Long Land Pattern was mostly seen with Infantry ...The Short Land Pattern was mostly used with Light Infantry .
( The above is to be read as a general rule...exceptions are easily found )
Weight of these muskets were around 10 - 11 pounds...however they did balance well...
Which was important , since the musket was mainly a handle for your bayonet , according to popular tactics of the time period here.
Muskets were smooth bore...with no rear sights...what was used as a front sight was actually the bayonet lug.
To load your musket you....
Reached into your cartridge box and retrieved a paper cartridge , consisting of powder and ball ...or powder and buck and ball...
Bite the end of the cartridge with the powder to tear it open... Place the hammer at half cock ...open the frizzen on your lock...pour a little of the powder into the pan....close the frizzen...
Pour the powder down the bore...remove the ram rod , push the rest of cartridge , paper and all down the bore....
Return the ram rod to the stock...don't leave it in the bore...embarrassing at best...deadly for you at worst...since you can't re-load after you shoot yer ramrod down range...
Place your musket at full cock...bring it up to your shoulder...aim...and fire....
With your thumb...wipe clean the bottom of the flint , while checking the flint for sharpness. and looseness...wipe out the pan...check the vent hole...re-load...and fire again...
Easy...
Some English officers and occasionally some English NCO's carried what was called a Fusil.
In the time period this term had many different definitions ...In this case we are talking about a smooth bore Musket...which looked a lot like the standard issue Bess...
But was a bit trimmer , shorter and lighter...often with a slightly smaller caliber of the .62 - .72 range.
Many times they also came with fancy silver inlays and the like.
Loading and firing was the same as for a regular issue musket.
Accuracy when the bore was clean was pretty good..despite the lack of a rear sight and the commonly held idea that they weren't accurate.
Bore size ranges of .75- 80 , combined with a round ball of around .700 - .725 and no patch...were leading causes of the lack of accuracy.
( The idea here was speed in loading and shooting...getting as much lead in the direction of the enemy , not individual marksmanship )
This and the fact that it is difficult to aim properly when you are getting shot at...and your buddies are getting shot...also didn't help.
The effective range of a musket was around 100 - 300 yards....rate of fire around 3 shots per minute.
The Americans at this time used...
Brown Bess Muskets...American made Committee of Safety Muskets....Fusils and Fowling pieces.
The Brown Bess Muskets were older issue...and mostly of the first Land Pattern...again exceptions are found.
The Committee of Safety Muskets were Muskets made here in America with old or surplus parts and made to First or Second Land Pattern Brown Bess styling.
Most locks were English origin...imported right up to the start of the war.
Some Committee of Safety Muskets were of French or Spanish design...again made in America...these were in a smaller caliber of .65 - .69 range.
Fusils in this case , were like the English ones , described above...or a very fancy well made sporting gun fitted at times with a bayonet lug...
Fowlers / Fowling pieces were simply flintlock shotguns...at times fitted with a bayonet lug...most commonly seen in 28 , 20 , 16 , 12 and 10 gauge.
All of the above could fire shot..single ball...or buck and ball...usually in the case of Muskets and Fusils...loaded with paper cartridges.
Fowlers...could also be loaded with paper cartridges...however...when used as hunting gun...loose powder and ball was used.
Cartridges being a military / militia thing.
Some smooth bore pistols may have been used / seen as well , by both sides.
Caliber ranging from .62 - .80 or thereabouts.
Rifles...
While the rifle was used during the war ( by both sides )....
I would say that it was not present at the battles of Lexington and Concord.
No English Rifle regiments / units were around in the area....
And the American Long Rifle was more of a western , as in Pennsylvania or southern as in Virginia , Maryland , The Carolina's , Georgia , etc...rather than a northeast colony thing...during most of this time period.
If you made this far into my long azz post....
I do find it interesting that with today's laws and restrictions regarding firearms , ammo and magazine capacity....
That one could get fined if one turned up to Militia Muster with :
A substandard or ill kept firearm...
Less than 60 rounds of powder and ball...
No bayonet ..or tomahawk if your firearm did not have a bayonet lug....
Also worth pointing out...
The English were marching out to Concord to confiscate Arms such as muskets , powder and a cannon ...
All of which were privately owned.
Not trying to be political here...just pointing out some things that I find interesting.
Andy
Muskets...some folks say....
Yes , I reply...but which ones...?
The English used what is commonly called a Brown Bess musket.
Some claim that the name refers to the dark brown walnut stock used....
Others say that the name Bess is referencing a prostitute....
Take yer pick here....it was before my time in the Army....so I can't say for sure.
At the time of the battle in question the English were using the Long Land Pattern of 1722...
With a 46 inch barrel and a caliber of .75- .80
Along with the Short Land Pattern of 1768 with a 42 inch barrel and again a caliber of .75 - .80.
The Long Land Pattern was mostly seen with Infantry ...The Short Land Pattern was mostly used with Light Infantry .
( The above is to be read as a general rule...exceptions are easily found )
Weight of these muskets were around 10 - 11 pounds...however they did balance well...
Which was important , since the musket was mainly a handle for your bayonet , according to popular tactics of the time period here.
Muskets were smooth bore...with no rear sights...what was used as a front sight was actually the bayonet lug.
To load your musket you....
Reached into your cartridge box and retrieved a paper cartridge , consisting of powder and ball ...or powder and buck and ball...
Bite the end of the cartridge with the powder to tear it open... Place the hammer at half cock ...open the frizzen on your lock...pour a little of the powder into the pan....close the frizzen...
Pour the powder down the bore...remove the ram rod , push the rest of cartridge , paper and all down the bore....
Return the ram rod to the stock...don't leave it in the bore...embarrassing at best...deadly for you at worst...since you can't re-load after you shoot yer ramrod down range...
Place your musket at full cock...bring it up to your shoulder...aim...and fire....
With your thumb...wipe clean the bottom of the flint , while checking the flint for sharpness. and looseness...wipe out the pan...check the vent hole...re-load...and fire again...
Easy...
Some English officers and occasionally some English NCO's carried what was called a Fusil.
In the time period this term had many different definitions ...In this case we are talking about a smooth bore Musket...which looked a lot like the standard issue Bess...
But was a bit trimmer , shorter and lighter...often with a slightly smaller caliber of the .62 - .72 range.
Many times they also came with fancy silver inlays and the like.
Loading and firing was the same as for a regular issue musket.
Accuracy when the bore was clean was pretty good..despite the lack of a rear sight and the commonly held idea that they weren't accurate.
Bore size ranges of .75- 80 , combined with a round ball of around .700 - .725 and no patch...were leading causes of the lack of accuracy.
( The idea here was speed in loading and shooting...getting as much lead in the direction of the enemy , not individual marksmanship )
This and the fact that it is difficult to aim properly when you are getting shot at...and your buddies are getting shot...also didn't help.
The effective range of a musket was around 100 - 300 yards....rate of fire around 3 shots per minute.
The Americans at this time used...
Brown Bess Muskets...American made Committee of Safety Muskets....Fusils and Fowling pieces.
The Brown Bess Muskets were older issue...and mostly of the first Land Pattern...again exceptions are found.
The Committee of Safety Muskets were Muskets made here in America with old or surplus parts and made to First or Second Land Pattern Brown Bess styling.
Most locks were English origin...imported right up to the start of the war.
Some Committee of Safety Muskets were of French or Spanish design...again made in America...these were in a smaller caliber of .65 - .69 range.
Fusils in this case , were like the English ones , described above...or a very fancy well made sporting gun fitted at times with a bayonet lug...
Fowlers / Fowling pieces were simply flintlock shotguns...at times fitted with a bayonet lug...most commonly seen in 28 , 20 , 16 , 12 and 10 gauge.
All of the above could fire shot..single ball...or buck and ball...usually in the case of Muskets and Fusils...loaded with paper cartridges.
Fowlers...could also be loaded with paper cartridges...however...when used as hunting gun...loose powder and ball was used.
Cartridges being a military / militia thing.
Some smooth bore pistols may have been used / seen as well , by both sides.
Caliber ranging from .62 - .80 or thereabouts.
Rifles...
While the rifle was used during the war ( by both sides )....
I would say that it was not present at the battles of Lexington and Concord.
No English Rifle regiments / units were around in the area....
And the American Long Rifle was more of a western , as in Pennsylvania or southern as in Virginia , Maryland , The Carolina's , Georgia , etc...rather than a northeast colony thing...during most of this time period.
If you made this far into my long azz post....
I do find it interesting that with today's laws and restrictions regarding firearms , ammo and magazine capacity....
That one could get fined if one turned up to Militia Muster with :
A substandard or ill kept firearm...
Less than 60 rounds of powder and ball...
No bayonet ..or tomahawk if your firearm did not have a bayonet lug....
Also worth pointing out...
The English were marching out to Concord to confiscate Arms such as muskets , powder and a cannon ...
All of which were privately owned.
Not trying to be political here...just pointing out some things that I find interesting.
Andy
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