A musket with no accession number and no accompanying details was found in the Lang collection. Having an interest in muskets, I decided to look into it further.
After much research, I determined that the gun in question was a model 1795 manufactured in the year 1807 and made in Springfield Massachusetts. This particular gun would have been used by the American army during the War of 1812. It was probably picked up from a battlefield during the war by a Canadian as a souvenir. The gun was manufactured as a Flintlock .69 calibre with a 45” barrel. The musket is 60” overall in length and roughly 10 lbs in weight. Our gun was converted to a percussion probably sometime after 1840 by a "do-it-yourselfer". The priming pan has been cut away with a hammer and cold chisel, the flash hole was drilled and threaded to accommodate the drum and nipple. The new hammer was manufactured by a blacksmith or a home forge. The hammer screw has been replaced by a nail simply hammered flat to hold the hammer in place. A rear sight has been installed and the bayonet lug filed down to make a front sight. The Musket, after being modified, was probably loaded with a solid ball for hunting big game such as deer and could be loaded with shot for smaller game such as fowl.
This musket is an important souvenir of the War of 1812 and went on to be a useful musket for a local farmer or hunter.
Below is a photo of the modified musket. This picture shows the hand-made new hammer held in with a nail. The manufacturer and date are also visible:
The following picture is of a modern replica of what our musket would have looked like originally:
Finally, here is a picture of our modified musket beside the modern replica for comparison purposes:
