Springfield M1795 musket,In 1795 the United States was a new country independent from its former col

Springfield M1795 musket,In 1795 the United States was a new country independent from its former colonial masters.  During the Revolutionary War the colonist were dependent of captured British arms and arms imported from Europe, most notably France.  However, now that the united colonies had become the United States, it could no longer depend on foreign weapons, but had to start producing its own.To do this the first national armory was established at Springfield, Massachusetts. Later another federal armory would also be founded at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia.  The first military musket entirely produced by the United States was the Springfield Model 1795 produced at the Springfield Armory and later at Harper’s Ferry as well as several private gunsmiths. The M1795 was pretty much a copy of the French Charleville, with 44 inch long stock and 56 inch long barrel.  It .69 caliber, smaller than the British Brown Bess musket (.71 caliber) but giving it a slight advantage of range.Unfortunately the M1795 had its problems, it was difficult to produce and did not use interchangeable parts.  This would cause Springfield Armory to improve and simplify the design over the 18th century.  Despite its flaws the M1795 was a good rugged design that served the US well.  It would mainly serve in the War of 1812, the Seminole Wars, and the Mexican American War.  In the 1820’s many were converted from flintlock to percussionlock, to keep up with the technological advances of the day.  Believe it or not, many were used by the Confederacy during the Civil War, some never having been converted to percussion.  It must have been an incredible bummer to be issued a flintlock smoothbore musket when your enemies were using accurate percussion rifled muskets.After the Civil War, many were still considered to be serviceable, however they were retired due to being greatly obsolete.  Around 150,000 were produced. -- source link

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