The musket is more correctly called a Prussian infantry musket or the Prussian pattern musket these later became known as "Potzdam muskets". The Potzdam musket was the standard infantry weapon of the Royal Prussian Army from the 18th century until the military reforms of the 1840s. There were four models produced, first in 1723, 1740, 1809 and the last model in 1831. Potzdam lies just outside of the city of Berlin and it was Frederick the Great of Prussia's favourite place of residence.
After Frederick was crowned king in 1740, he ordered the then-current Prussian musket; a version from 1723, for his army. The Potzdam musket had already made a name for itself by being the first standard German-made musket, and the 1740 model further solidified Potzdam as the key arsenal for Germany. The muskets were widely used by the Prussian army of the various German states in the 18th century.
The smoothbore musket was reasonably accurate to about 100 yards against line infantry. But the musket was preferably used at a much shorter distance than that when discharged en masse.
The Model 1809 Prussian Musket, like its predecessor, was assembled at the Potzdam armoury during the Napoleonic Wars. It had steel rather than brass barrel bands to reduce costs, and copied extensively from the design of the French Charleville Model 1777 Musket. The hammer (or cock) had a decorative heart-shaped cut-out, and the steel pan had a protective shield to keep the powder dry in wet weather. The pins were abandoned in favour of three steel barrel bands. Unusually, the fore-sights were cast into the barrel band rather than the end of the barrel. The musket had a 41.25-inch (1,047.75 mm) barrel and an overall length of 56.45 inches (1,433.83 mm), and weighed approximately 9 pounds (4.5 kg). The barrel, lock plate and firing mechanism were made of steel and sling-swivels made of iron whilst other furniture pieces such as the butt plate, trigger guard and ramrod pipe were found in brass. The stock was usually made of Walnut. The calibre was reduced to .71 (18.034mm). The barrels were manufactured separately at Spandau, and were brought to Potzdam for finishing and final assembly of the musket. By 1813, only 55,000 muskets had been made growing to 65,000 by 1815. A well trained Prussian solider could fire 3 to 4 rounds per minute during battle.
At the Battle of Waterloo, the 1809 pattern Potzdam was the most widespread musket in use by Blücher's army. Due to its large bore, it could fire the cartridges of fallen British or French soldiers, although the smaller French bullets would rattle down the barrel and reduce its accuracy. The socket bayonet of the 1809 musket was patterned after the bayonet of the French Charleville musket. Like most other bayonets of the early 19th century, it had a triangular 19.25-inch (488.95 mm) blade.
