Schyler Rippie
32 Cal
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2019
- Messages
- 4
- Reaction score
- 1
The lock is of the British P 1777 style.
I am a little suspicious of the lock because the double line engraving around the end of the sear screw coming through the lock plate is rather crude. However, this could be because P1793 and later India Pattern Besses were allowed to be more crude due to the emergency of the Napoleonic Wars. A good view of the inside of the lock may help to better identify it. The sideplate is also of a military style and could be from a musket that the lock was also were cannibalized from.
I realize it has a rear sight, but is the bore actually rifled or is it a smooth bore?
If it is a smooth bore and large enough caliber, this gun would have inexpensively met the requirement of the 1792 Militia Acts. There were LOADS of guns made from cannibalized military parts to satisfy the requirements of that law for the militia. Matter of fact, many guns that have been described as "made up from parts for the AWI," were in fact made up to satisfy the later 1792 Militia Acts.
Gus
Thank you. Thats why I am so curious to learn more about it.Interesting gun with an interesting story.
My Grandfather was lineman in texas for many years. In the 1970s he was running a telephone wire through an old house. He poked a hole in the wall and there it was, sitting between two studs.
Thank you sir for the excellent feedback.Well first the engraving on the lock behind the cock isn't that far off from a 3rd Model Bess, although the "TOWER" is a bit small..., BUT what bothers me is the engraving of the crown. There's no acceptance mark between the crown and the hole... so I'd say that's unlikely to be a British military arm...
A proper lock has this
View attachment 8612
Your lock is missing this mark and I don't think it shows signs of removal but signs of never having been there...
View attachment 8614
Add to that the lack of a full set of ramrod pipes, the stock nose doesn't allow for a bayonet and there is no nose cap, plus I don't see a thumb escutcheon on top of the stock's wrist, so..., I think what you have is an African trade gun, perhaps Dutch or Belgian. Those two nations made a lot of Bess muskets for England under contract, which were later approved by the Army and given several stamps. (If your barrel bears proofing marks I bet they are not British.) British slave traders on ships often traded guns at the slave markets, and the guns the slavers wanted were Bess muskets. However, the slavers didn't really know how to tell the difference between a true Bess and a second rate (less expensive) copy of a Bess...since the Dutch and Belgians were already making guns of that pattern, it was a simply thing to knock up some bogus engraving and "Bess-up" the copies.
So likely circa 1860's and probably entered the US from leftover specimens off a Southern slave ship...when the Yankees began to blockade Southern ports, they'd empty the ship, and who knows what happened to her ???
LD
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