1763/66 Charlie from Pedersoli

[FlinterNick]

".....altered and upgraded at French Arsenals" and "....repaired and overhauled" can mean several things. It sounds as if this means that they were used to make mixed pattern muskets and I do not think that is what Mr. Ahern meant at all, there are no mixed pattern French muskets that were made from random parts or altered to appear to be muskets of the new pattern.

To me it means that the muskets were repaired/refinished to bring them up to usable condition - as near new as possible. They also may have done minor alterations to improve them. Such as the changes done to make the 1763 model and the 1766 model which are very similar in appearance but are two distinct patterns.

This was not necessarily done for the use of the Americans, it was done while still in French possession for French use in the future. In other words, after their first term of service with French forces they were withdrawn to allow the new pattern muskets to be issued to French troops. The used muskets - most of which were still in serviceable condition - were cleaned, burnished and, if needed, repaired to get them ready for future service where needed. Any muskets needing serious repair were likely broken up for parts to be kept for future repairs to the earlier patterns if needed.

I hope this answers your concerns Ike, I think the auctioneer's blurb was simply written to glamorize a product that he/she knew little about but sounded good to the ear, especially to someone that wanted a musket to hang over a fireplace as part of a remodeling project. I hope Scots Jim will join the discussion.

Its pretty good info, most of the 1763 Stanville Muskets were sent back, stripped and redesigned with lighter parts. The 1763 musket is often found with new lock parts, new barrel bands and a trumpeted ram rod.

The French were very experimental in their musket designs, one thing they often did was upgrade older patterns, its not uncommon to see a 1766 lock on a 1777 stock or a 1763 barrel on a 1770 Musket.

 

[FlinterNick]

stock is shaped wrong, the front sight is steel instead of brass, and i believe the lock shape is wrong aswell. the incorrect front sight bugs me more then anything. all french muskets ive ever seen have had brass front sights.

been a little bit since i looked but i did have a chance to take close up pics of both the pedersoli gun and a real 1766 side by side. the pedersoli 1766 is entirely too expensive considering its not a very good copy. heck you could buy two india made 1768s for the price of one pedersoli. i also prefer the 1768 over the 1766 for the third barrel band retaining hole. this makes the barrel band closest to you more secure.

-matt

The Stock is based on the Stansville and Mauhgberg 1763 musket which had a pronounced comb. These stocks were reduced to a more customary design, many of these were shipped over during the American Revolutionary War.

The Front Sights were mostly brass, not a major flaw, brass oval sights can be added however the Pedersoli bands are very high quality steel, Id leave it alone.

Not all had brass sights, the 1770 pattern had no front sight, it was blank the French took it out for a war time economy, brass was in short supply. The 1773 pattern used an odd rammer spring that attached to the rear band, it didn't work very well.

The French were very experimental, there is no real hard copy of their muskets. The Rife Shoppe has copied some originals and that's as close as you'll get.