03Mar, 2025

“This Is My Rifle:” M1795 Springfield

By Sam Lichtman Leave a comment Blog, Guns & Equipment, History

Author’s Note: This blog post is adapted from a short piece I wrote for the December 2024 issue of Leatherneck, Magazine of the Marines. It is part of a series of briefs on historic long arms, commemorating the Marine Corps’ 250th anniversary year.

Muskets such as the M1795 had much longer barrels than modern infantry rifles. In addition to maximizing the performance of the black powder charge, the long barrel places the bayonet far forward of the shooter, making it effective in close combat.

Technical Data

Weight: 9lb. 7oz. (approx.)
Overall Length: 59 3/8”
Barrel Length: 44 ½”
Chambering: .69 cal.
Feed System: muzzleloader
Operating System: flintlock
Rate of Fire: 3 rounds per minute effective
Range: 100 m effective (point target), 300 m effective (area target)

Description

The Model 1795 musket is a typical military long arm for its time, similar in configuration and comparable in capability to its European counterparts. Effectively a clone of the French “Charleville” family it replaced, it fires a .69 caliber lead ball from a relatively long (by modern standards) smoothbore barrel. One of the few differences is that the M1795’s bayonet lug is mounted above the barrel in the British style, whereas pre-1768 Charleville variants used a bottom-mounted bayonet lug. The weapon is otherwise virtually identical to its French predecessor, including the distinctive French-style flat trigger.

Because black powder muskets were intended to be volley-fired at massed formations of enemy troops rather than individually fired at point targets, they had very primitive sighting systems. In fact, the M1795’s bayonet lug (right) is larger than its front sight (left).

Development and Service History

General George Washington ordered the establishment of an arsenal at Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1777. Throughout the Revolutionary War and the early history of the United States as an independent country, the Springfield Continental Arsenal and Laboratory stored and maintained arms for the military. As the supply of leftover Charlevilles became insufficient, however, then-President Washington authorized the arsenal to become an armory, beginning manufacturing in 1794 under Superintendent David Ames, Jr.

Although another armory was constructed at Harpers Ferry, Virginia, the two armories had little communication and consequently produced slightly different muskets. Springfield produced 101,000 M1795s; though phased out in favor of the updated Model 1816 musket, M1795s were retained in arsenals and saw some use up to the Mexican-American War.