Hi LawButler,
With the additional photos I can tell you with complete confidence you have a pattern 1759 Marine musket made sometime after 1764. As such it could very well be a Rev War gun. A little context. In 1757, parliament passed the Militia Act authorizing the government to arm citizen militia in response to repeated attempts at invasion by France. The Royal Marines were formally established in late 1755 so both the Marines and militia needed arms. Ordnance designed a cheaper musket with 42" barrel (the standard long land musket at the time had a 46" barrel) to be handier shipboard as well as for citizen soldiers. The new pattern 1757 Marine and militia musket cut costs by flattening the side plate, eliminating the rear pipe, wrist plate, nosecap, and long trumpet forward pipe, simplifying the butt plate, and mounting a wooden rammer. All else was the same as the current long land musket. Very quickly they realized the brass nosecap, rear pipe, trumpet front pipe, and steel rammer were too valuable in performance to eliminate and they upgraded the pattern 1757 to include those components. That became the pattern 1759 Marine musket. It was the first widely issued short land musket produced by ordnance although there were a few previous carbines with 42" barrels. Marines played an important role on ship preserving order as well as during naval defense or attack. They also played important roles during amphibious attacks and as infantry on land when needed. At the time of Lexington and Concord there were almost 1,000 marines stationed in Boston and they were organized like the army regiments complete with grenadiers and light infantry. Marine grenadiers and light bobs were involved in the expedition to Concord under the command of John Pitcairn. They also played a major role during the Battle of Bunker Hill. Marines from all three barracks, Chatham, Portsmouth, and Plymouth were stationed in Boston. Later in the war, perhaps by 1778 or 1779, Marines were issued the standard pattern 1769 or 1777 short land muskets after their old Marine muskets were used up. The only caveat I can think of is some old Marine and Militia muskets were issued to UK militia late in the 18th century. Again it was fear of invasion and desperate need for more arms that prompted that action. However, they usually were marked for the militia units on the butt plate. Yours does not seem to have any of those marks so I think there is a very good chance it was a Rev War period gun that saw service in America or at least the West Indies.
dave
