This is a brief rundown of the muskets used in the American Revolution.

[Draggingtree]

As we go forth with the 250th celebrations I wanted to reflect on the types of guns used in the American Revolution.

This is a brief rundown of the muskets used in the American Revolution.

All of these weapons were commonly used in the revolutionary war.

Common problems with the muskets were: Different bore sizes Different designs parts were not interchangeable even from the same manufacturer. Bayonet unique to each rifle manufacturer.

Training on the use was different for each rifle manufacturer.

Brown Bess The "Brown Bess" muzzle-loading smoothbore musket was one of the most commonly used weapons in the American Revolution. While this was the main British musket, it was briefly used by the Americans until 1777. This musket was used to fire a single shot ball, or a cluster style shot which fired multiple projectiles giving the weapon a "shotgun" effect. There were two types of the Brown Bess: the Short Land Pattern and the Long Land Pattern. The Short Land was shorter, less bulky and less heavy than the Long Land. Most American fighters implemented the Long Land Pattern.

Charleville musket Large numbers of Charleville musket Model 1763 and 1766 muskets were imported into the United States from France during the American Revolution, due in large part to the influence of Marquis de Lafayette. The Charleville musket 1766 heavily influenced the design of the Springfield Musket of 1795.

American-made muskets Many muskets were produced locally by various gunsmiths in the colonies, often reusing parts from other weapons. These are known as "Committee of Safety" muskets, as they were funded by the fledgling local government. Because of the need to produce as many weapons as quickly as possible, and out of fear of prosecution by the British government, many of the muskets did not bear a maker's mark. Some were simply marked as property of a state.

Long rifles Long rifles were an American design of the 18th century, produced by individual German gunsmiths in Pennsylvania. Based on the Jager rifle, these long rifles, known as "Pennsylvania Rifles", were used by snipers and light infantry throughout the Revolutionary War. The grooved barrel increased the range and accuracy by spinning a snugly fitted ball, giving an accurate range of 300 yards compared to 100 yards for smoothbore muskets. Drawbacks included the low rate of fire due to the complicated reloading process, the impossibility to fit it with a bayonet, the high cost, and lack of standardization that required extensive training with a particular rifle for a soldier to realize the weapon's full potential. Due to the drawbacks, George Washington argued for a limited role of rifles in the Colonial military, while Congress was more enthusiastic and authorized the raising of several companies of riflemen Long rifles played a significant part in the battle of Saratoga, where rifle units picked off officers to disrupt British command and control but required support by units armed with smoothbore muskets or by artillery to prevent the riflemen from being overrun.