MODEL 1810 INDIA PATTERN MUSKET TYPE II

The AK-47 of the Napoleonic Wars

Nicknamed “Brown Bess,” the standard-issue musket of the British military had a nominal caliber of .75 inches, but the size of the ball was .693. The Model 1810 was a redesign of the 1793 model. Nearly 3 million of these two designs were produced between 1795 and 1815. After the Battle of Waterloo restored peace to Europe, Britain sold off more than 700,000 of the muskets, mostly to South American nations that were fighting to throw off Spanish rule.