French 1717 Rampart Musket from the American Revolution

American forces in the Revolutionary War took in a bunch of different types of surplus small arms, and one of the interesting ones was the French Model 1717 Rampart gun. When the French created the first standardized military rifle pattern in 1717, they made two versions – an infantry musket and a rampart or wall gun. These wall guns were more heavily constructed and has larger bores, to allow them to fire a heavier powder charge for a longer effective range. Specifically, they were .78 caliber, weighting about 10.5 pounds with 46”+ barrels.

The French built about 40,000 of the 1717 pattern wall guns before moving on to a new 1728 pattern. They were quite obsolete by 1777 when Americans came looking for guns to buy, and many thousands were happily sold to the new American state (what better fate for obsolete French arms than to shoot at the British?). Some were used by Americans as-is, and some were refitted to use socket bayonets. The large bore also offered an option to load essentially buckshot instead of a single ball, which offered definitely benefits at close ranges.