Images(8)

Commercial musket with a flat lock

Dateca.1710-20

OriginEngland, Birmingham

MediumIron, steel, brass and wood (ash)

DimensionsOA: 62 7/8" Lockplate: 7 1/4" x 1 1/16" Barrel: 47 1/16" x .80 caliber

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1982-11

DescriptionPlain round-barreled musket made without a sideplate, tail pipe or sideplate. Its flat bridle-less lock of "sea service" form has a double-throated cock and is secured by three sidenails. The stock ends a few inches short of the muzzle to accommodate a bayonet with a nominally 4" socket. Its triggerguard, rammer pipes and buttplate are of sheet brass, the latter of which is secured by 8 iron nails.Label TextMilitary muskets of many different sorts were available for sale in early 18th century Britain. At one end of the spectrum were the well-finished pieces built with all the best mechanical and structural features available. On the other end were cheap muskets like this one. True, it would fire a musket ball just the same as a far-more expensive "Brown Bess" type musket, but it wouldn't last nearly as long in service. Lightly built, this piece omits many of the features found on better arms, such as a sideplate, triggerplate and a tail pipe. Furthermore, it was built with a functionally inferior bridleless lock. A few decades after this musket was made, more robust versions of this general form were made for service in the Royal Navy.

Mark(s)Barrel struck with Birmingham private proofs at breech, consisting of a "Crown P" and a "Crown V," both within an oval cartouche. The weapon number "31" is also punched into the breech.ProvenanceFrom the collection of Lewis H. Gordon, Jr. Possibly from the armoury at Ashburnham Place, East Sussex, which was sold during the early 1950s.