This is an advance peek at a draft of a future article. As usual, comments are welcome.
John
The U.S. Model 1795 Musket
The Springfield Model 1795 musket is one of our most historic military firearms. This was our first official military longarm that was actually produced by federal armories in the United States. It is memorialized by being replicated as the infantry branch “crossed muskets” insignia on U.S. Army uniforms even today. This is its story.
Following the American Revolutionary war, large numbers of military muskets were in our inventory. Most of these, roughly 20,000 in number, were 1763/1766 Charleville-pattern arms that were gratefully provided to us by France to be used against British forces. Inasmuch as most of the American veterans of that war were familiar with those French weapons, it was only natural that our first official indigenous long arms resembled them in many particulars.
French muskets were made at many arsenals, but the majority that were shipped to the Americans came from the Charleville Armory, and that name stuck as a generic term for muskets that conformed to the general design. These were mostly of .69 caliber, which was a bit smaller than the “Brown Bess” British standard of .75 caliber. The Charleville guns fired a ball that weighed in at about 370 grains compared to 500 grains for the British guns. The French weapons had a slight advantage in range, with a usual gain in velocity of about 200 feet per second over the British guns. The barrel of the typical French musket was secured within the stock by three barrel bands, rather than with the British custom of cross pins. The performance of these guns was generally acknowledged by the Americans as being superior to those issued to the British, and the first official American musket didn’t vary much in configuration from the popular Charlevilles. The American Congress had passed an Act in 1794 that established the first national armory in Springfield, Massachusetts, and specifically chose the Charleville model of 1763 as the pattern for our first official longarm. The new armory in Springfield started with storage depot buildings that were already there since the Revolution.
What was to become the American Model of 1795 mimicked its French predecessor in most respects, keeping the caliber at .69 and the barrel length at 44 ¾ inches. The stock was of black walnut, measuring out at 56 ¾ inches long. The overall length varied from 59 ½ inches to an even 60 inches. The weight ran an average of 8 pounds and 14 ounces. The flintlock hammer necks on French muskets were of two types; a single gooseneck design and a double-necked hammer with a reinforcing loop under the jaw. This latter type became standard on the Model 1795. A steel ramrod with a mushroom tip fit into a channel in the stock, and was held in place by a spring retainer at the breech end. The stock had a straight grip and the forearm extended almost to the muzzle. Two sling loops were provided, one in front of the trigger guard and the second on the middle barrel band. The front sight was part of the forward barrel band and in front of it the bayonet lug was located on top of the barrel, although the first weapons had it mounted underneath. Due to the guess and by-gosh inherent lack of accuracy with smoothbore muskets, no rear sight was utilized. The locks usually had “Springfield” stamped in a semicircle on the lock behind the hammer, and “US” between the base of the hammer and the powder pan. The “US” was surmounted by a stamped federal eagle. The metal parts were left in “National Armory Bright” (not blued or otherwise color treated). None of the Springfield-manufactured 1795s were ever serial numbered.
Musket manufacturing at that point in history took time. The barrels were particularly difficult, as deep-boring machinery and long bars of steel were simply not available. The barrels had to be made by wrapping a red-hot strip of steel around a long mandrel, and forge-welding the strip together by hammering. The welded-up barrels were then reamed and polished on the inside and smoothed and tapered on the outside. Long barrels were necessary then, as the quality of black powder often varied greatly. The longer barrel was necessary to churn, mix and burn the powder thoroughly in order to effectively propel the paper-patched bullets through the bore. Large powder charges were usually necessary to do this, with 160 to 190-grain loads being common. Any longer barrel length was impractical. The length was limited by the necessity to allow for stand-up muzzle loading. A 14-inch bayonet made for an overall length with the bayonet fixed of more than six feet. This was good for defense against cavalry and for providing extended reach against infantry when battle was in close and there was no time for reloading.
Mass production of the musket locks was also quite difficult. Initial production at Springfield necessitated a lot of hand labor to make the components, as tools, jigs, fixtures and machine tools were scarce. The result was often a wide variation in the dimensions of the parts. As the 19th Century dawned, water power was employed more often at Springfield. This enabled improvements in such things as grinding, drilling and turning. Also, as time went on, more specialized tools and gauges were used, making manufacture a bit more uniform.
The Model 1795 muskets were also manufactured at Harpers Ferry Armory in Virginia after 1801. A number of contractors made them too, among them Eli Whitney’s facility in New Haven, Connecticut. The result of this mish-mash of manufacturing sites was that a lot of minor variations on these muskets have been noted, such as a tilted brass pan on the lock, and rounded rather than flat and edge-beveled hammers. About 80,000 of the 1795s were made at Springfield, and roughly 70,000 at Harper’s Ferry.
Although a number of minor changes were implemented over time to the Model 1795, enough significant changes had occurred by 1808 to change the designation of the official musket to the Model of 1808. Like its predecessor, the newer model was made at both Springfield and Harpers Ferry as well as at a number of government contractors. The pan became rounded and was made as an integral part of the lock plate. The stock was shortened somewhat and the groove that ran back from the comb of the stock was noticeably shortened in length. Barrels were reduced in length by ¼” and the overall length was shortened by an inch. The trigger guard was cut shorter by about two inches and simplified in form. Unfortunately, interchangeability of parts was not possible at that time due to a widespread lack of uniform dimension gauges. This vital advantage was very nearly achieved with the final U.S. evolution of the flintlock musket, the Model 1840. However, full interchangeability of parts did not become a fact until the manufacture of the percussion-cap Model of 1842. This finally enabled doing most repairs in the field rather than having to return some guns to armories for proper fitting.
Model 1795s continued in use during the War of 1812, the Mexican War of 1846-48, and in the Civil War (1861-1865). Most were eventually converted from flintlock ignition to use percussion caps; although it is known that many Confederates were issued original flintlocks at the beginning of the Civil War. The service life of the Model 1795 had extended from 1795 to 1865, a span of about 70 years.
The Model 1795 was the first in a long line of official U.S. armory-produced weapons, ending with the M14 rifle in the 1960s. It is comparatively little known and very seldom encountered today. If you find one of these historic weapons for sale in original flintlock condition, you should be prepared to empty your piggy bank!
The storied Springfield Armory was closed down by Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara in 1965, who called its functions neither “necessary nor desirable.” It exists today only as a fantastic museum that recalls and revers its days of extreme importance to our ability to defend our country. I have been there on several occasions. It’s definitely worth visiting if you can; it houses some incredible national treasures that trace our military firearms over three centuries.
(c) 2020 JLM