Russian .709 inch percussion musket, Model 1845, 1847

Russian .709 inch percussion musket, Model 1845, 1847. Two types of musket were used by the Russians during the Crimean War (1854-1856): old flintlock muskets which had been converted to the percussion system, and new Model 1845 Smoothbore Percussion Muskets. The design of this Russian Model 1845 was influenced by the French Model 1842 Musket, which it resembled; the Russian musket differed in having brass furniture and a stained Arctic birch stock, a feature typical of Russian firearms. This weapon, picked up from the battlefield of the Alma (1854), is engraved with the Russian Imperial Eagle and all its major components are stamped with the arsenal mark and date of manufacture. The butt has a raised cheek piece, unlike the flat cheek piece on the French musket. The Russian muskets fired a spherical lead ball .67in. in diameter. It weighed 450 grains and was wrapped with its powder charge in a paper cartridge.