The

musket A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually dis ...

Modèle 1777, and later Modèle 1777 corrigé en l'an IX (Model 1777 corrected in the year IX, or 1800 in the French Revolutionary Calendar) was one of the most widespread weapons on the European continent. It was part of a weapon family with numerous variants, e.g. for the

light infantry Light infantry refers to certain types of lightly equipped infantry throughout history. They have a more mobile or fluid function than other types of infantry, such as heavy infantry or line infantry. Historically, light infantry often fought ...

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

and a musketoon for the

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

Modèle 1777 corrigé en l' an IX

After the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted French First Republic, France against Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Habsb ...

, first consul

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

commissioned a rework; some minor modifications on the lock, bayonet and stock resulted in 1800 in the "corrected" model, also called "Modèle 1777 corrigé".

Other improvements

The Musket was further improved in 1816 and 1822. Many were converted from flintlock to

percussion cap The percussion cap, percussion primer, or caplock, introduced in the early 1820s, is a type of single-use percussion ignition device for muzzle loader firearm locks enabling them to fire reliably in any weather condition. Its invention gave ...

in the mid-19th century.

Impact

7 million muskets were produced, including variants 1800 (an IX), 1816 and 1822, but not including muskets like the Austrian 1798 or the

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

n 1809, which were heavily influenced by the French 1777. Until World War I, no other firearm was produced in such large numbers. Properly trained French infantry were expected to be able to fire three volleys a minute with the 1777. A trained infantryman could hit a man sized target at 80 yards but anything further required an increasing amount of luck and the musket became wildly inaccurate at long range. Compared to the British

Brown Bess "Brown Bess" is a nickname of uncertain origin for the British Army's Muzzleloader, muzzle-loading smoothbore flintlock Land Pattern Musket and its derivatives. The musket design remained in use for over a hundred years with many incremental c ...

, it fired musket balls that fitted more tightly into the barrel resulting in a better accuracy but a lower rate of fire and more fouling issues. The

Grande Armée The (; ) was the primary field army of the French Imperial Army (1804–1815), French Imperial Army during the Napoleonic Wars. Commanded by Napoleon, from 1804 to 1808 it won a series of military victories that allowed the First French Empi ...

marched into the German countries and left approx. 750,000 muskets retreating in 1815; until about 1840, French weapons were used in Germany.

Literature

References

External links