Charleville Musket Modèle 1763
- Category
- Rifle
- Barrel
- 1130 mm
- Weight, empty
- 4.60 kg
- Introduced
- 1763
About
What it is, and why it matters
The Charleville Musket Modèle 1763 is a .69 caliber flintlock smoothbore musket and a key pattern in the long-running French Charleville series. Introduced after the Seven Years' War, the 1763 reinforced and standardized the design with heavier furniture and three barrel bands, and was soon lightened into the Modèle 1766. Large numbers of Charleville muskets, including the 1763 and 1766 patterns, were shipped to the American colonies and became the principal infantry arm of the Continental Army, directly inspiring the first United States Springfield muskets.
Tens of thousands of Charleville Model 1763 and 1766 muskets shipped from France armed the Continental Army, and the pattern was so influential that the United States' own first national musket, the Springfield Model 1795, was a near-direct copy of it.
Barrel and weight figures vary slightly across arsenals (Charleville, Saint-Étienne, Maubeuge) and individual examples; the 1763 was a heavier 'reinforced' pattern later lightened as the 1766. Muzzle velocity is approximate for a period smoothbore.
Specification
Everything measured
IdentityWhat it is, who built it and when.
- Manufacturer
- Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Etienne
- Category
- Rifle
- Country
- France
- Status
- Out of production
- Produced
- 1763 to 1777
- Variant of
- Earlier pattern
DimensionsAs issued, without a magazine or an optic.
- Barrel
- 1130 mm
- Overall length
- 1524 mm
- Weight, empty
- 4.60 kg
ActionHow it cycles, what trips it, and what feeds it.
- Action
- Muzzleloader
- Firing mechanism
- Flintlock
- Trigger
- Single stage
MaterialsEach swatch is the material itself, not a colour chosen to stand for it.
- Barrel
- Steel
- Stock
- Wood
- Finish
- White metal
BallisticsFrom the service cartridge, not a handload.
- Muzzle velocity
- 427 m/s
- Effective range
- 46 m
- Maximum range
- 183 m
- Rate of fire
- 3 rpm
Trajectory
What the round does downrange
Solved from the muzzle figures and the bullet. The dashed rule is the effective range on the record, and the crosses are the steps the solver returned.
No load solved for this record yetThe flight path is computed from a cartridge and a bullet. This record has no ammunition filed against its chambering, so there is nothing to solve.
Features
What it has
What the record lists as fitted, drawn from the catalogue.
Smoothbore barrel
Muzzle loaded
Three barrel bands
Socket bayonet lug
Ramrod
Standing
How it compares
Each figure against the firearms of the same type and cartridge that record it, or of the same type where that cartridge has too few. Positions are read to the nearest tenth.
| Measurement | This firearm | Median | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Empty weightAmong 1,612 rifles | 4.60 kg | 3.50 kg | Heavier than about 90% |
| Overall lengthAmong 1,557 rifles | 1524 mm | 1080 mm | Longer than about 90% |
| Barrel lengthAmong 1,659 rifles | 1130 mm | 584 mm | Longer than about 90% |
Answers
Questions about the Charleville Musket Modèle 1763
How much does the Charleville Musket Modèle 1763 weigh?
The Charleville Musket Modèle 1763 weighs 4.60 kg (10.14 lb) empty.
What caliber is the Charleville Musket Modèle 1763?
The Charleville Musket Modèle 1763 is chambered in .69 Caliber Musket Ball.
How long is the Charleville Musket Modèle 1763?
The Charleville Musket Modèle 1763 is 1524 mm (60.0 in) long overall, with a 1130 mm (44.5 in) barrel.
Who makes the Charleville Musket Modèle 1763?
The Charleville Musket Modèle 1763 is made by Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Etienne (France).
When was the Charleville Musket Modèle 1763 introduced?
The Charleville Musket Modèle 1763 was introduced in 1763 and discontinued in 1777.
How does the Charleville Musket Modèle 1763 operate?
The Charleville Musket Modèle 1763 uses a muzzleloader action, and its firing mechanism is flintlock.
Compatibility
Which parts fit this firearm
Studio
Every part that mounts on this, resolved
Not a list the maker typed out: the answer comes from the mounts this firearm exposes and the interface each part needs, so it stays right when either one changes.
- Every part that mounts on any firearm in the catalogue
- Interface standards, platforms and fit overrides
- The same answers through the API and the MCP server
Requires a signed-in GunSpec account on the Studio plan. The answer is computed per part, so it is not part of the public record.
Provenance
What the record holds
Every figure above was taken from one of these pages. The confidence reflects how much of the record came from a page a claim can be checked against.
In service
- French Army
- 1763
- Continental Army / United States
- United States
Provenance
Confidence in this record
66%
Stockists
Where to buy
Offers link straight to the shop. GunSpec never takes the order.
No shop has listed this firearm yet
Stock and prices come from the shops themselves. If you sell this firearm, you can list it and it appears here.
List a firearmMCP
Ask an assistant about it
The same record, reached the way a person asks for it rather than the way a program does.
Ask GunSpec
Works with
Point an MCP client at GunSpec and it answers from the catalogue rather than from memory. A free key covers the read tools.
API
The call that returns this record
The same fields, in the same units, from the same endpoint the page reads.
curl --request GET \ --url 'https://api.gunspec.io/v1/firearms/charleville-1763' \ --header 'X-API-Key: your_key'{ "id": "charleville-1763", "name": "Charleville Musket Modèle 1763", "manufacturer": { "id": "mas", "name": "Manufacture d'armes de Saint-Etienne", "countryCode": "FR", "foundedYear": 1764, "website": null, "logoUrl": null, "description": null, "status": null, "defunctYear": null, "stateOwned": null, "makesFirearms": null, "parentId": null, "predecessorId": null, "createdAt": "2026-04-05 22:24:37", "updatedAt": "2026-04-05 22:24:37", "version": "87c072fb1be6f40e986a35204e14f677681780f4cc933604551acc79f0df336c" }, "category": { "id": "rifle", "name": "Rifle", "description": "Long-barreled firearms designed for accurate shooting" }, "country_of_origin": "FR", "year_introduced": 1763, "barrel_length_mm": 1130, "weight_empty_g": 4600, "action_type": "muzzleloader"}