And now for something really different...

[villiers]

Ah! BWS39 is surely a WaffenAmt. It was made in a concentration camp for the guards.

[Patrick Chadwick]

Definitely no cigar, Patrick!

[jmoore]

Stock is of what type wood?

[Patrick Chadwick]

Definitely a fine close-grained walnut. I will try to make some better photos in the next days.

[villiers]

Can´t be expected to get them all right

[JWB217]

An interesting musket.I believe it is somewhat earlier than what you think.The lock is very similar to the French M1774 pattern,the furniture seems to indicate Dutch manufacture.That long top band,Dragoon musket?Many of the German States of that period purchased guns from the Dutch.

[Patrick Chadwick]

Thanks for those tips, I will investigate further and make some pics. There were two major periods - in America from the revolution up to around 1820, and in Prussia around 1808-1815 - when muskets were put together from whatever went bang in order to make something usable, both for the regular and the militia forces. In both cases it was urgent military need because an adequate standardized arsenal production simply did not exist, not Bubba!

So the point that really bothers me is not the stylistic mix - but the bayonet lug on top of the barrel. Lug - not foresight!
At present, I can only find this feature on American muskets. So unless someone can provide examples of this orientation on muskets from other countries, I can only see America as the origin. There is a number 65 impressed on the butt, which makes me think of a miitia rifle.

[Patrick Chadwick]

Here are some detail photos:
First a general view

Attachment 38931

The Dutch-style front band

Attachment 38934

The number on the barrel

Attachment 38930

The number on the butt

Attachment 38929

The lock area, on the left.

Attachment 38932
Note the screw-headed pins for the tang on the trigger guard and the trigger itself.

And finally, the lock.

Attachment 38933

The simple butt number, without further subdivision to indicate a regiment or company, suggests a militia rifle. The bayonet stud on top of the barrel is very American. All Dutch muskets seem to have the bayonet stud at the bottom.
The position of the bayonet stud has not been altered. Together with the style mix it all suggests an American militia musket made up on the basis of a pre-1800 Dutch musket - the only musket that I have been able to discover with a front band arrangement like this is Firearm Exhibit No. 355 from the Leger Museum in Delft, described as late 18th century, and that has a single strap for the foresight, not a double strap.

http://www.collectie.legermuseum.nl/...n/i006816.html

Any help in identifying this musket will be most welcome.

[jmoore]

The markings look much more European to me. And the square corner at the lower rear corner of the flashpan and lockplate is somewhat disturbing.

[Patrick Chadwick]

And the square corner at the lower rear corner of the flashpan and lockplate is somewhat disturbing.

Well spotted jmoore! The musket was converted to percussion at some stage and then converted back to flintlock. Still with the original lockplate, but of course this means that I cannot assume that the cock, frizzen, pan and frizzen spring are off the original musket (although they seem to be original components). The hole for the percussion drum has been plugged with a threaded insert.

But the point that no-one has answered up to now is: was the USA the only country to regularly use bayonet studs/lugs on top of the barrel? As I have not yet found examples from any other country, my tentative judgement is "yes".

And the reason - speculative, I admit, but it will have to do until someone turns up better information - is that the British Brown Bess musket was differently constructed from those in the rest of Europe (most of which followed a French Charleville-type layout) in using the foresight block as a bayonet stud.

So the revolutionary Americans would have acquired not only considerable numbers of British muskets, but probably even more British bayonets. In fact, they would have been the only type of bayonet generally available "off the shelf"! I guess that the urgent requirement to use what was available resulted in American muskets generally having the bayonet stud on top, in the position where the Brown Bess had the foresight block.

Yes, it's just my theory. Anyone who knows better should simply speak up!