Can someone identify?

Hello all, my name is Wayne and I hail from the piney woods of NW Florida. My Dad was into muzzle-load hunting, was also a Civil War rein-actor and I inherited 2 of his old weapons. The shorter one has what looks like a capital letter "I" on the left side of the breech end of the octagon barrel. It also has some serial numbers but I don't see a brand name per se. The longer rifle appears to be a smoothbore, says"Potsdam G.L." on the breech and has a "J W" above an "L" on the breech end of the barrel. Thanks!

Ok, the old one is a Potsdam Musket but I don't see a date on it. It does have a number "0997" on the left side of the barrel.

The shorter of the two is a rifle with double-set triggers in a general Hawken style. Probably a .50 cal? Some close-ups might help.

The longer is a Civil War-era Potsdam musket from Prussia. These are smooth-bores, about .70 cal, give or take, and have brass fittings. It is very desirable for smooth bore competitors because it has a rear and front sight in spite of being a smooth-bore. These started out as flint-locks and were converted in the 1840s to percussion.

Welcome! Good luck with the identifications.

Yes, the Hawken style rifle is .50 cal. It has some quilted/curly figure in the wood that looks real nice. i will post more pics later. Thanks for the welcome!

Very hard to tell by the picture but the shorter one may have been made by Investarms of Italy. Greg

I believe you may be right. Thanks!