Parts of the Musket

The musket issued to the soldiers was a 1734 Grenedier Musket, also known as a Tulle Musket. It was a 0.656 inch caliber and had a 0.629 inch bullet. The musket had an accuracy of up to fifty yards, however, this wasn't of great importance since the soldiers would be firing into a crowd of enemy soldiers. It weighed about eight pounds and was about 44 3/4 inches in length. The modern day term "Lock, Stock, and Barrel", was actually taken from the eighteenth century musket. "Lock" refers to the trigger mechanism. "Stock" refers to the butt of the musket. "Barrel" simply refers to the barrel of the musket.

Other parts of the musket were the ram rod and the trigger mechanism. The ram rod was used to compress the gun powder, and position the bullet, making sure they were well set in the barrel. The trigger mechanism consisted of a flint, a lock plate, a pan, a vent hole, and a trigger. The flint was usually made of quartz stone. When the trigger was pulled, the flint would hit against the lock plate, creating a spark and igniting the gun powder on the pan. From this, the powder within the barrel would be lit through the vent hole. This reaction caused the musket to fire the bullet.