Musket - Parts of A Musket

Parts of A Musket

The phrase "lock, stock, and barrel" (which means "the whole thing") refers to the three main parts of a musket. The stock is the wooden base. The barrel is the tube where the musket ball (or other ammunition) accelerates and exits the weapon. The lock is the mechanism that causes the weapon to fire.

Most muskets were designed to be used with a bayonet, which is a triangular spike or blade designed to fit onto the end of the musket's barrel, allowing the musket to be used as a pike or spear. Bayonets in modern fighting are intended as last-ditch weapons which are only used in emergencies, but in muskets, bayonets played a much more significant role, typically accounting for roughly one third of all casualties on the battlefield.

Locks came in many different varieties. Early matchlock and wheel lock mechanisms were replaced by later flintlock mechanisms and finally percussion locks. The lock typically had a hammer of some sort, which was pulled back into position (cocked) and released by pulling a trigger. The hammer was often referred to as a dogshead or a cock due to the fact that it looked somewhat like a dog or chicken's head when viewed from the side. Flintlocks and percussion locks typically had a "half cocked" position, which was a "safe" position from which the weapon could be loaded but not fired. Only when the hammer was pulled back into the "full cocked" position could it be fired. The phrase "don't go off half cocked" has its origins in this type of weapon.

The stock was made out of wood. The rear end of the stock was called the butt. The stock of a musket was typically heavy enough and sturdy enough that the butt could be used as a blunt force weapon in hand to hand combat. Some muskets had small boxes built into the stock called a patch box, since it was used to carry small cotton patches which were used both for cleaning and for wadding when firing the weapon.

The barrel of a musket was usually smooth bore. Rifled barrels were more accurate, but the black powder used at the time quickly fouled the barrel, making reloading slower and more difficult. This was not a problem for hunters, who often used weapons with rifled barrels, but musketeers could not afford to stop firing and clean their barrels in the middle of a battle. The minie ball, which came into use in the 1840s, allowed the use of rifled muskets. The front of the barrel was called the muzzle, and the rear was called the breech. The term "muzzle loading" therefore indicates that muskets were loaded through the front end of the barrel. A ramrod, made out of wood or metal, was used to push the ball or bullet into the barrel. Most muskets had a groove in the stock under the barrel, allowing the ramrod to be slid into place and stored there. Musketeers were trained to always replace their ramrods after loading so that they would not leave their ramrods on the field if they were forced to hastily retreat.

Barrel bands held the barrel to the stock. These were removable, so that the barrel could be taken off and cleaned. Barrel bands were typically held in place either with springs or screws. A large screw attached to the breech (called the tang screw) also held the barrel in place.

Most smooth bore muskets did not have sights. Rifled muskets, due to their longer range, were usually equipped with sights. The design and placement of these sights varied. For example, the U.S. Springfield Model 1861 musket used two flip up leaf sights, set for 300 and 500 yards, while the British Pattern 1853 Enfield used a flip up ladder sight, which was graduated from 100 to 900 yards in 100 yard increments (although realistically, hitting anything beyond 500 yards was mostly a matter of luck).