RARE**NAPOLEONIC WARS ERA**Imperial Prussian Model 1723 / 40 Potsdam Dragonergewehr (Dragoon / Mounted Infantry) .73 Calibre Muzzle Loading Flintlock Musket With Later Pre 1846 TY (County Tyrone) Irish Registration Marks. Sn 21521 Muzzleloader .7 Rifles

**RARE**NAPOLEONIC WARS ERA**Imperial Prussian Model 1723 / 40 Potsdam Dragonergewehr (Dragoon / Mounted Infantry) .73 Calibre Muzzle Loading Flintlock Musket With Later Pre 1846 TY (County Tyrone) Irish Registration Marks. Sn 21521 - 21521

These days a 1723/1740 Potsdam Infantry Musket is a rare find, but the much less produced 1726 dragoon version ('Dragonergewehr") is exceptionally rare. The Dragoon musket is distinguished by the diamond shaped carvings on the stock instead of the rounded equivalent found on the Infantry model. When Frederick the Great came to the throne in 1740 he standardised the bore of the barrels of all service muskets at .73 and the length at 35". Existing .67 bore 41" barrels were either shortened or replaced, as seems perhaps to be the case with this .73 example. Also, here the "FR" Royal cypher on the brass thumb plate is an early impression and distinct from the later more common version. In addition, the forend has been shortened and the heavy iron ramrod discarded in favour of a wooden one. In 1726, when the Dragonergewehr was conceived, dragoons were purely mounted infantry and armed with what were essentially infantry muskets. However, by the 19th century dragoons had predominantly become cheap cavalry, and were armed with carbines or short muskets, rendering the original Dragonergewehr cumbersome and obsolete - with no lighter replacement available in the case of the Prussian army. This would account for the stock and ramrod modifications in an attempt to make the musket more fit for purpose. As the Royal Armouries at Leeds points out..."What happened in Prussia during Napoleon's invasion resulted in some wierd and wonderful things being cobbled together. Standardisation went out of the window and the Prussians turned up at Waterloo with many things, some standard issue, others not". In the campaign culminating with Waterloo in 1815, the Prussians mobilised everything they could - fielding some 115,000 troops and every available weapon. So it is highly likely that this particular musket would have been involved in the battles of Ligny and /or Waterloo. The musket's subsequent history is unknown, except that the barrel and butt plate display an Irish compulsory registration number for County Tyrone, indicating that for some reason it had made its way to Ireland before 1846 (illustrated in the images). Our example of the Dragonergewehr is in excellent condition. It has all original wood and brass fittings throughout. It has a heavy military cock, brass pan & the lock plate has the Potsdam arsenal mark. It has a small post fore sight and shallow groove action tang rear sight. The rifle’s wood ram rod has a brass cap and tip. The rifle’s cocking and firing actions work crisply. The smoothbore is clean. The price includes UK delivery. NB As an antique muzzle loading flintlock musket no licence is required to own this item if retained as part of a collection or display. Sn 21521

£1,795.00