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large bore BROWN BESS

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toot

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I have a BROWN BESS flinter that has a red milk painted stock and is a chiefs special, even though it is not a TRADE GUN. it has a 75 caliber 8 groves and 8 lands refiled barrel that i use as a wall gun. 200 grs of 1FG. and either buck shot or a .735 patched round ball is what i fire in it. when you touch her off hang on!!
 
Whoop, will be a great elk gun. As long as you got a clear shot you won’t even have to leave your state to take your Colorado elk :wink:
What sort of sights did you put on it? I would think with that big ball you might have a rain bow but should keep velocity as well as any ball could way past 300 yards.
 
Rifleman1776 said:
200 grs of 1FG.

:doh: Oomigosh! :shocked2:
Wat are ye trying to kill? Yerself?
70-90 gr. will whoop the stuffings out of anything that walks this continent.

Something one should take care about is taking 18th century examples of British Powder Loads and using them with today's powders.

During the FIW, it seems 165 grains of Musket Powder (1f) was the common load in a cartridge, though of course some of the powder was used to prime the pan.

During the AWI, because of British Contractors cheating the British Military, British Powder of far lesser quality was usually sent and because of them needing far more powder than in the FIW, British Cartridge Powder charges ROSE to between 190 to 220 grains. HOWEVER, again this was mostly due to BAD POWDER.

In the early 19th century, advances by Congreve and others in making British Black Powder much better resulted in a REDUCTION in the British Powder Charge down close to modern quantity.

Bottom line, it seems 110 grains of 1F would/should be a modern maximum charge in the barrel of a Bess and like you, I have found 70-90 gr. to be quite sufficient.

Gus
 
Such wall guns looked like a bess on steroids. Likewise that English style stock went on a diet to become a NWG.
While I’m sure a modern well made bess barel could be shallow rifled and stand a 200 grain charge I wouldn’t like to lay my cheek on the stock. So I was picturing in my mind a Browns barreled rifle set in a bess looking stock.
 
My unit has a wall gun. It is a 4 gauge (4 ounce ball), smooth bored firearm patterned on the long land pattern musket. At 40 pounds of weight, it really looks like a brown bess on steroids. It has a yoke for firing from a gun mount and with the mounting provisions, it is considered a small long range musket or artillery piece.

Some of the long range muskets were rifled in the belief that accuracy could be improved. Like most muskets, they didn't have sights so the rifling would be superfluous.

Need to know size and weight to determine if you musket is a rifled long range musket or a painted and rifled land pattern musket.
 
Grenadier1758 said:
My unit has a wall gun. It is a 4 gauge (4 ounce ball), smooth bored firearm patterned on the long land pattern musket. At 40 pounds of weight, it really looks like a brown bess on steroids. It has a yoke for firing from a gun mount and with the mounting provisions, it is considered a small long range musket or artillery piece.

Some of the long range muskets were rifled in the belief that accuracy could be improved. Like most muskets, they didn't have sights so the rifling would be superfluous.

Need to know size and weight to determine if you musket is a rifled long range musket or a painted and rifled land pattern musket.
Enclosed is a image of a 4 bore rifled rampart gun , this type was mainly used on ships for blasting out the rigging of the enemy .
Feltwad



 
British rail blunderbuss with yoke.jpg
 
Yeah! Now That's a bloody proper firearm! Where do I get mine?
And BTW, do you folks think the 'Rampart Gun' type was the fore-runner of the Punt Guns used in waterfowl hunting on the East Coast? Modified stocks for punt boat use?
 
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