Following the close of the French & Indian War, France adopted the shorter and more robust 1763 Charleville musket to replace its older models. In 1766, the musket was lightened and non-essential hardware was eliminated. Two years later, in 1768, further improvements were made to the weapon including the addition of a bottom band spring.
During the Revolutionary War, France supplied thousands of Charleville muskets to the Patriots in the Americas. They were widely used and highly regarded during the conflict. In fact, they were so well liked the the Pattern 1768 Charleville was copied at the newly opened Springfield Armory to produce America's first standard infantry musket - the Model 1795.
This particular Model 1768 Charleville is a great example of the famous French musket that helped win the Revolutionary War. It is likely that this musket was among the 10,000 muskets that America purchased from France during the Revolution, considering it was converted to percussion via the "drum method" The drum conversion (aka "blacksmith conversion") method of converting a flintlock weapon to percussion is uniquely "civilian" and limited to America, as European-owned flintlock muskets were converted at arsenals using machinery and methods that were much more sophisticated than those found in your typical American gunsmith shop. Furthermore, when the French began converting their stores of flintlock arms in the late 1830's, they began with the Model 1777 series of as muskets, as the earlier production guns were found to have barrel walls that were too thin; and the dimensions of their lock components varied to widely to easily convert the guns in large batches. For these reasons, we can safely surmise that this Model 1768 Charleville was in the United States at least sometime prior to the Civil War, as widescale "percussioning" of flintlock arms stopped in the late 1860s when the US government dumped hundreds of thousands of surplus percussion muskets on the market for prices that were cheaper than the average cost of the labor required to convert an existing flintlock. Considering the only large scale importation of French 1768 pattern muskets to the United States took place during the Revolution, its pretty safe to say that this musket is a veteran of the War for Independence.
This musket is in good attic-found condition. The hammer holds solid on both full and half cock and the lock works well overall. The lock has some light pitting that has obscured the original armory stamp on the lock plate, however most of the word "Charleville" can be see if the gun is inspected under magnification.
The stock is very good with no cracks or chips; and wonderfully defined lock moldings, indicating that the stock was never refinished.
The barrel is a full length at 44". The bore is dark and "as-found" with some rust and scattered pitting.
The furniture is all original and in good condition.
This musket would be a great choice for any Revolutionary War buff. Unconverted 1768 muskets routinely sell for north of $5,000; making this piece a great economical option for someone who wants a true Revolutionary War piece, without having to re-mortgage their home to get it.
