identification help

[albatrosdva]

This is a French model 1754 that has had some interesting modifications. The barrel is cut to 38" and is nicely inspector marked for Nicolas Carrier. The lock is inspected by Pierre Girard of St Etienne arsenal. I have no explanation for why the iron hardware was removed. My best guess is that the musket was damaged in the stock and barrel so that it was taken out of French infantry service and the iron was removed to service other muskets. At the time of the War for American Independence the French were selling muskets and parts to the Americans and I suspect that the lock was added at this point with the modified cock from the 1760s. Once it got to the states an armorer or tinsmith or something put together the somewhat crude brass furniture largely taking advantage of the original inletting for the iron parts. The exception is the tang of the butt plate which is longer and skinnier than the original and the side plate with the added tail decoration. This reminds me of some of the patchbox work done on early American Long Rifles so I was wondering if any of you have opinions or can help identify this odd piece. New to the forum, no idea how to post on here. http://s1042.photobucket.com/user/1640Flintlock/library/
thanks
Sam

[Seth Isaacson]

It is certainly plausible that it was assembled from parts for use in the Revolution, but I can't say it looks much like any of the militia muskets with mixed parts I've seen. Most that I have looked at in recent years had a mix of Brown Bess and Charleville musket parts, occasionally commercial hardware merchant locks, and sometimes American stocks. They have usually looked much like a standard military musket at a glance. Obviously this one has had the stock cut down and other additional modifications. It could simply be a salvaged surplus gun used for any number of purposes, maybe even use in the fur trade.

[albatrosdva]

I agree with you. It doesn't look like the American guns that utilized other parts but it doesn't look like anything else either. Africa trade guns pretty typically used 1777 type locks because they were so plentiful. They used poor quality stocks and typically simple functional hardware. This is simple being nailed on but there is a certain amount of art to it as well. I can think of no reason why else they would have taken the good quality iron hardware off.

[Eric Kettenburg]

This definitely does not look like American work to me, especially the manner in which it was converted to half stock.

[albatrosdva]

doesn't look American. Still French? Could be a piece slapped together in the French Revolution?