Grand Hairy One

Model 1845 Percussion Musket from the Russian Empire dated to 1856 on display at the Guards Museum in London, England

The Imperial Russian army used smooth bore muskets during the Crimean War which did not have the accuracy and stopping power compared to their French and British opponents. The allied armies had rifled weapons that caused devastation from greater range to the Russian soldiers and generals.

The musket itself is a copy of the French De Mutzig percussion musket. This was common in the Russian Empire as they struggled to compete with other countries manufacturing of firearms. Given the size of their armies though, and problems with its infrastructure, it is understandable the issues they had.

Copy of a Brunswick Rifle and Sword Bayonet from the Russian Empire dated to 1854 on display at the Guards Museum in London, England

The Brunswick rifle was one of the many rifle designs from the Enfield company in the 19th century. The design proved popular amongst rifle regiments in the British Empire during the 1840's. This weapon though was made in the Russian Empire and is a copy of the British made rifle. Whie majority of Russian forces were equiped with smooth bore firearms in the Crimean War, light infantry and skirmishing forces used rifles.

This gave them little advantage and the majority of French and British soldiers in the Crimean War were equiped with rifled weapons. Russian soldiers, and their generals, suffered heavy casualties to these weapons due to their range and accuracy.

Borchardt Model 1893 Pistol from the German Empire dated to 1895 on display at the Royal Armouries in London, England

This was one of the earliest successful self-loading pistols and was made in Berlin and then sold in London by James Wilkinson. At this time in the UK there were few restrictions on what firearms a private individual could buy or possess.