Scaled down Belgian or French Musket

C

Cannonman11

Inactive
I just acquired a scaled down version of the Model 42 French or Belgian musket. It is definitely under sized with a bore about .58 caliber wth a correct fitting angular bayonet. It appears to have been made for a boy but has all the features of its full scale counterpart.. Why would a musket like this be made and who would it have been made for? Any ideas?
 
ID ??

What do you mean when you say ID? I believe it is Belgian and certainly 1840's to 1860's (Not sure how long Cadet muskets would have been used)
. What else is possible? It would be cool to find out additional info.
Post Note... Royal Military Academy in Brussels dates back to 1830's and was the only formal military school in Belgium in those early years.
There are no marks on the musket insofar as stampings, rack # or other that i can see. Lock plate is unmarked as are other Belgian muskets in my collection.

Another question.. Since academy entrants would have been young men in their upper teens and early 20's would they have used scaled down muskets? I think maybe this is, on second thought, a musket used in a smaller school that would feed into the academy as students advanced in age.
 
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In the 19th century you became a page at 12 and entered cadet school at 14, so you were ready to go out into the regular army at 18 as an ensign.
 
"...made for a boy..." Is entirely possible.
"...no marks on the musket..." Indicates it wasn't a shooter. Possibly not 19th Century vintage at all. The Belgians were stamping proof marks long before 1840.
"...at 18 as an ensign..." That'd depend on what Army. Brits were still buying commissions until Prince Albert, Vickie's hubby, stopped the practice in 1871. Lot of very young Ensigns running around. Jimmy Wolf, for example, was commissioned Ensign at 15. Captain at 17. Full Colonel at 32.
 
Bill

Great information!! There is a belgian proof mark (circular) stamp on top of the breech that you typically find on all their muskets. Nothing on the lock plate but I have an Belgian 1822 flint that has none either and its in pretty good shape so I don't think it was buffed off. I think cadet version was made for a light load and blanks for sure. It has a nice bore and a nice ping when rammer hits bottom. You mention it was possibly not done in the 19th Century?? Here are some pics that show some features

IMG_0488.JPG

IMG_0489.JPG

IMG_0490.JPG
 
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