Tumblernotch
69 Cal.
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2005
- Messages
- 3,370
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During the Revolution and before militia men were required to supply their own arms and ammunition in many cases. But by the time of the M1816 musket things had changed. The Militia Act of 1808 provided for $200,000.00 annually to be disbursed to the states to arm and equip the militia. Each state ended up with a quota to be spent within the year for the purchase of arms whether muskets, cannon, accoutrements or harnesses. Everything bought was measured in musket equivalents. For instance, a cannon would be "X" amount musket equivalents, say, 200. In other words a battery of artillery and its equipment may equal 2 or more years worth of the full quota of muskets. Some states would spend part of a year's quota for muskets and then defer the remainder for the following year to buy some cannon or the more expensive Hall breechloader or a large lot of cartridge boxes and belts. The National Armories and the several contractors manufactured muskets for the Federal government, not for private sale to individuals. However, some of the contractors did sell directly to states. At any rate, all the militia muskets were stored either in the state armories or sometimes in the attics of county courthouses. It may be safely surmised that many found their way into homes, but that wasn't the intention.
I just threw out the musket equivalent comparison as it relates to buying cannon. I don't have the figures with me showing what a cannon would cost compared to muskets, so the 200 figure is just an example.
I don't see the lock on your musket so I don't know where it was made, but I can see it has the proper US proofs as well as the mark of Moses L. Morse, who was a US inspector from 1822 to 1824. Muskets bought from contracting armories directly by the states would usually have the mark of a state inspector, though I have read of former US inspectors hiring out to a state and some former state inspectors worked for the Federal government at a later time.
I just threw out the musket equivalent comparison as it relates to buying cannon. I don't have the figures with me showing what a cannon would cost compared to muskets, so the 200 figure is just an example.
I don't see the lock on your musket so I don't know where it was made, but I can see it has the proper US proofs as well as the mark of Moses L. Morse, who was a US inspector from 1822 to 1824. Muskets bought from contracting armories directly by the states would usually have the mark of a state inspector, though I have read of former US inspectors hiring out to a state and some former state inspectors worked for the Federal government at a later time.