Belgian or European musket mid 1850/60's

[oreclan]

Does anyone have a knowledge of Belgian or European muskets? I have a 3 banded, 56 inch long .70 cal. rifle with a back action lock; very French in appearance.

The barrel has a front sight between the front barrel band straps, and a fixed rear sight on the tang. A bayonet lug is mounted under the muzzle. The percussion lock is marked by the front screw with a crown over"LM"?. There are two crowned "R"s on the left side of the barrel breech and an "R" , funnel shaped stamp, and a crowned "X" forward of the nipple bolster.

The iron furniture is also of French style. The trigger guard has finger grooves at the rear along with a crowned illegible letter and a sling loop forward of the trigger bow. The rear barrel band has a crowned "G" stamped on the bottom, it is also on the right side of the middle barrel band and the buttplate tang. Behind the barrel tang on the stock is a crowned script"C". A fat boomerang shaped escutcheon acts as a sideplate into which the rear lock screw is threaded on the left side of the stock.

Any information concerning it's origin and American unit use would be greatly appreciated.
Ron

 

[Va.Manuf.06]

Can you post pictures? I have a link to a Belgian site at work that may be of help but I won't be able to access it until Monday. Also, do you read Flemish? (Not a problem, the pictures and a rudimentary knowledge of 19th Century military arms will be enough.) If you haven't received a reply by then I'll try to post a link. There are many different Belgian versions of several French muskets that were made in Belgium for the Belgian National Army as well as other European countries including France. As far as use in America, Belgian produced military arms were imported by both sides during our Civil War but telling what units used what type of musket, rifled musket or rifle would be nearly impossible.

 

[Tumblernotch]

It sounds like you have an M1840 French rifle musket of the Delvigne design. Capt. Silas Crispin in a report on muskets bought from Herman Boker for the North in 1862 said, "...is of French manufacture, .71 caliber, weight 10.25 pounds, length of barrel 41 inches, rifled with four grooves. The lock is a back action, and the sear and main spring are in one. This is a solid and substantial arm, well made in lock, stock and barrel. The bayonet is of the angular form, with clasp; the rammer is not cupped for the accomodation of the elongated ball; and a simple notched projection at the breech pin constitutes the rear sight. No appendages are furnished with this arm. The large caliber renders, of course, this arm objectionable; but in other respects it is acceptable. We have received 6,940."

According to one writer, this is the standard French rifle musket with a Delvigne breech using a round ball. The Delvigne breech resembles a patent breech in that the breech plug is thicker where it screws into the barrel forming somewhat of a powder chamber. The soldier, after ramming the ball home would hammer it with the rammer against the projecting front of the breech plug, upsetting the ball into the rifling. Although I see that they used a round ball, one book I have shows a Delvigne bullet as a flat based conical.

Hope this helps!

 

[Va.Manuf.06]

Hmmmm. KanawhaRanger, the musket described in your post is the French M1840 or M1842 musket, not a Delvigne system arm. The M1840 and M1842, if rifled, were set up to use the Minié ball if I recall correctly.

oreclan, are you sure the musket is Belgian? Is it indeed rifled or is it a smoothbore? As KanawhaRanger states, it could well be a French musket. Here is a link to the Belgian version with back action lock and three steel bands:

http://users.telenet.be/ABL1914/GeweerInf1853.html

It is the Infantry Rifle M1853 used by the Belgian Army.

 

[Tumblernotch]

It should be the M1842 according to the description. I think I had a typo there. I also should have read further in my "Small Arms 1856" book and read of the experiments in France. The report speaks of the Delvigne chamber being omitted in the rifle of 1842 and a tige being inserted into the plain breech pin. (Thouvenin system). If this musket has the stem, it should verify what he has. Then again, many were removed by US armorers after purchase for use with the Minie. It should be rifled with 4 grooves, but if it measures .71 cal., it was probably reamed out or badly corroded. The rear sight tells me that it was rifled originally, but the '42 should have had a log range sight instead of the tang mounted block sight.

I just found a Belgian musket fitting the description on an auction website. It was made by T. Tilkin in Liege, Belgium. This one has an 800 yd. long range sight though. It is listed as a Belgian made French M1842 Rifled Musket.