Charleville Flintlock Carbine, France 1777

Description of the Product

This French muzzleloading flintolock carbine is an trunctuated version of the Charleville musket. The French army produced this shorter and easier-to-handle version for use by dragoons and other cavalry. The carbine version fired the same bullets, but the barrel was shorter than the infantry model to allow transportation and use on horseback. This carbine model was also not designedto be used in melee combat with a bayonet, unlike the full-length Charleville musket used by infantry, which had to be as long as possible to act as a spear in melee combat.

This musket was a service weapon of the French army during the French Revolution, and the famous conquests of Napoleon. This popular model also played a significant role in the U.S. War of Independence as France supplied weapons to the rebels against England. The Charleville Musket was, along with the English Brown Bess, the most common weapon of the 18th and early 19th centuries. It was involved in most conflicts, after all Britain and France were the two largest and most powerful empires with large colonies, both fighting for influence in both the Old and New Worlds.

The Charleville musket was the first standard musket of the French infantry, and was in use from 1717 onward. The last pieces were made in the 1840s. Although the name of the weapon should be French infantry musket or French model musket, in practice the weapon came to be called the Charleville Musket after the arms factory in Charleville during the American War of Independence (1775-1783), where French muskets were standard equipment for American soldiers. The Charleville musket left an indelible mark on the Americans and copies began to be made locally. The Springfield Model 1795 Musket and the subsequent improved models 1812 and 1816 are externally replicas of this weapon and still played an important part in the American Civil War (1861-1865).

Of course, Charleville muskets were made not only in Charleville but also in other gun factories in France, but the name of the gun remained. The weapon, which was in production for a long time, can be found in several different versions, and new small improvements may have been made every few years. In appearance and style, this replica corresponds to the model 1766 and later versions.

When loading a flintlock gun, black powder from a gunpowder horn was first poured into the barrel or a ready-made powder cartridge wrapped in paper was inserted into the barrel. A bullet, typically a ball cast from lead, was pushed after the powder. The bullet was pushed to the bottom of the barrel with a long ramrod, which made the charge a tight package at the back of the barrel. When the trigger was pulled, the hammer swung forward and the flint attached to the jaws struck the frizzen. The sparks generated by the impact ignited the ignition powder in the pan. This “flash in the pan”, in turn, burned to the barrel side of the gun along a small channel, igniting the actual gunpowder charge which propelled the bullet to its target.

The Charleville musket had a smooth .69 caliber barrel, meaning the gun fired large 17,5 mm diameter lead bullets. A properly trained infantry soldier was able to load and fire three shots per minute.

• This gun is an exact replica of the original. The replica matches the original in size and weight. The mechanisms of the weapon are working. The weapon can be cocked and dry fired like a real one. The ramrod is not detachable. Due to the materials used, the mechanisms cannot withstand continuous cocking and firing for long periods.
• Genuine wood and cast metal has been used to make this replica weapon. Zamac differs from steel in many respects, so the structure of the gun does not withstand pressure, it cannot be used to fire bullets, nor can it be converted to a functional weapon by any means.
• Replica guns such as this do not require permits in Finland, nor in many other countries. However, since the gun looks real, it should not be carried in public.
•  A replica gun is perfect for historical re-enactment, on a theater stage, in film productions, for collectors of historical memorabilia, and as decoration.
• Length: 113 cm
• Weight: 1,85 kg
• Manufacturer: Denix, Spain

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