Article notes
Jeremy Bengal 6/7
- During the 17th century military small arms were put through many design changes in order to have a more powerful and lighter portable weapon
- During the 16th century the weapon of choice was the musket which due to its power made heavy armor a wasted extra weight since the armour was no longer effective and without the use of heavy armour the heavy musket became added weight so they made smaller lighter versions
- Around the time when the flintlock musket was created mass production was put into effect allowing large armies to use them
- In France muskets were not seasily available until 1717, when the government made a specified version of the musket that had a 47-inch barrel and a .69 inch caliber
- After the Seven Years War the Model 1763 was introduced by the french with a stronger lock and shorter barrel length that remained standard to the end of the century
- the Model 1777 had been made with improved production echniques that would have the option of exchanging parts this allowed the production of cheaper and easier to repair muskets
- Although this was a big step forward for france the production of this fire arm was to late to play a role in the napoleanic wars
