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2019-62, Musket
Model 1717 Rampart Musket
2019-62, Musket

Model 1717 Rampart Musket

Dateca. 1717-1728
Maker Royal Manufactory at Charleville
OriginEurope, France, Charleville
MediumBeech, iron, elm and steel
DimensionsOverall: 63 1/4" Barrel: 47" x .75 caliber Lockplate: 7 1/8"
Credit LineMuseum Purchase, The Friends of Colonial Williamsburg Collections Fund
Object number2019-62
DescriptionFrench Model 1717 Rampart Musket of regulation form, with no provisions for a bayonet or sling swivels. Beech stock with iron mounts including; a long-tanged buttplate, triggerguard, curled trigger, trigger plate, "S" shaped sideplate, three sheet iron rammer pipes and a tail pipe. Robust octagon to round barrel with a sighting flat extending to a dovetailed & brazed front sight. Flat, beveled lock of conventional form with the idiosyncratic vertical bridle connecting the frizzen screw to the frizzen spring screw. Plain, tapered ash rammer.
Label TextWith the creation of the Model of 1717 the French Army had its first regulation musket. Because of the perceived need for a more substantial longarm to be used within fortifications, a "rampart" version was also created. It included a heavier, larger-bore barrel than the infantry musket and dispensed with provisions for a socket bayonet and sling swivels. A few years into the production of the succeeding type, the Model of 1728, France stopped producing rampart muskets altogether. Either they had enough on hand by the mid-1730s, or rampart muskets were judged to be of limited use.

Since large quantities remained in French stores, King Louis XVI shipped at least 13,500 rampart muskets to the rebellious Americans in 1777 and 1778. It is not known how many of this number were M-1717s and how many were M-1728s, but both patterns were represented in the shipments.

While a slightly heavier musket which couldn't mount a sling was just fine for an American soldier, one that couldn't mount a bayonet was practically useless. As such, most of these rampart muskets sat in store. By early 1781 combat had reached Virginia, and it became necessary to press the bayonet-less muskets possessed by the State into battle, but not before they were made fit for service. In April, Virginia entered into a contract with a Philadelphia gunsmith to "cut" their stocks so they could mount one of the bayonets then on hand. These altered rampart muskets then went into service during the last years of the American Revolution, some of which remained in use as late as the War of 1812.
MarkingsThe lockplate marked below the pan with a "fleur-de-lis over SV" and "I.F with a Crown over C." A small fleur-de-lis appears on the tail of the lockplate, and "L.C" is struck on the inside. "I.F" are believed to be the initials of Jean Baptiste Fournier, who worked at Charleville at this time.

Another "I.F with a Crown over C" is struck into the breech, along with "14" (perhaps the date 1714) and a large fleur-de-lis. "RF" (République Française), deeply struck near the vent, shows this musket was still French Government property between 1792 and 1804.

The inked inventory number "1704" appears on the inboard side of the buttstock below the stamped numeral "1431." On the flat behind the sideplate is a round wooden plug struck with "RF."
ProvenanceEx. collection: Don Troiani