Charleville Musket - Design Features

Design Features

Charleville muskets had a smooth bore barrel. Rifles were more accurate than smooth bore muskets, but Military commanders favored smooth bores on the battlefield, since the round from a rifle had to fit tightly into the barrel, and became very difficult to load after a few shots because the black powder used at the time quickly fouled the barrel. The longer range and better accuracy of the rifle was also considered to be of little value on a battlefield that was quickly obscured by black powder smoke. Like all smooth bore muskets, the Charleville musket was only accurate to about 50 to 100 meters.

The Charleville's .69" (17.5mm) caliber barrel was slightly smaller than its main competitor, the .75 caliber Brown Bess produced by the British. The smaller round was intentionally chosen to reduce weight in the field, but still had enough mass to be effective as a military round.

The Charleville's stock was usually made out of walnut.

Charleville muskets were not used in battle like a modern rifle. Instead, Charleville muskets were fired in mass formations. In modern warfare, bayonets are considered to be last-ditch weapons, but in the days of the Charleville musket, they played a much more significant role on the battlefield, often accounting for roughly a third of all battlefield casualties. Muskets played a dual role on the battlefield, being used as a ranged weapon at a distance, and also being used as a pike type weapon in close hand to hand combat. This use as a pike dictated the Charleville's general length and weight. A shorter weapon could not be used as a pike, and its weight was a balance between being heavy enough to be used as a pike or club, but light enough to be carried and used by general infantrymen.

The rate of fire depended on the skill of the soldier, which was typically about 3 shots per minute.

The Charleville's barrel was held into place by three barrel bands. This made the Charleville sturdier than the British Brown Bess musket, which used pins to hold the barrel in place. The butt of the Charleville's stock was sometimes referred to as the "patte de vache" (French for "cow's foot"), as its shape was designed to be used as a club in hand to hand combat.

Charleville muskets were muzzle loaded, and used a flintlock firing mechanism. They typically fired a round ball, but could fire other ammunition such as buck and ball or shot.