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British Pattern 1842 Musket, East India Company variation

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Recent activity79035 of 237900Unknown curiosityWaterbury No. 114 "Modernistic"
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    Posted 10 years ago

    Chrisnp
    (310 items)

    (Note: I have changed this post slightly by moving the bayonet for this weapon to a post of it's own.)

    The Brown Bess series of flintlock muskets had been the iconic shoulder arm of British military power for over 100 years when the development of the percussion lock made them obsolete. As early as 1834, the Ordinance Board began looking for a percussion musket to replace the old flintlocks, and in 1839 the Tower of London Armory began converting the existing flintlocks to the new percussion system. In October 1841, a fire swept through the Tower, destroying thousands of muskets there for conversion. This caused a shortage of shoulder arms, and the Pattern 1842 Musket was rushed into production.

    The Pattern 1842 was modeled on the Brown Bess, and like the Brown Bess, my musket is a .75 caliber smooth bore, the ramrod is held in place by three brass pipes, and the sling swivel is pinned through the stock. It weighs a bit over 10 pounds (4.5 Kg) and is a bit over 54 inches (138 cm) long. I wouldn’t envy someone lugging this around all day. Instead of the British Crown, my musket bears the rampant lion of the British East India Company. My variation has the unique “Lovell catch” (named after the inventor) projecting from the nose cap that secures an especially adapted pattern 1839 bayonet, which I’ve presented in another post.

    Being a smooth bore with rudimentary sights, lobbing a nearly ¾ inch ball, this weapon isn’t particularly accurate. It was intended to be fired en mass by soldiers standing shoulder to shoulder at another mass of soldiers across a relatively small field. In one test of the new firearm, a squad of 20 soldiers fired these muskets at a 6 foot by 20 foot screen 100 yards away. They only hit the screen with about 75% of the shots.

    I confess I cannot resist trying out my old guns when I get them. I fired this one from a rest and had to bring in the target to 50 yards before I could hit paper on a standard 100 yard target (a 21”x 21”, or 53 cm, sheet of paper). Blunder may be interested in knowing I used 40 grains of Goex FFg using 545gr .715” patched musket balls.

    This particular musket came from a huge cache of arms that were stored away in a palace armory in Kathmandu Nepal until a few years ago when some entrepreneurs bought the whole lot and shipped them to the states for sale. It was covered with a century of grime and filth when I got it and I spent a weekend getting it to the condition shown. The sling was purchased separately, but is also from Nepal. Unfortunately it’s an 1888 Pattern and not the correct sling for the musket. I purchased the bayonet online from another source after a long search.

    WARNING: Load data is provided for information only. Many vintage firearms are unsafe to shoot and I do not advise use of this load data for other firearms since I do not know the specific firearm that may be involved or its condition.

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    Comments

    1. Windwalker, 10 years ago
      very nice ....
    2. blunderbuss2 blunderbuss2, 10 years ago
      Crisnp, your my new CW hero! Kind of a light load though. I was unfamiliar with the nose-cap lock.
    3. Chrisnp Chrisnp, 10 years ago
      I did go light. I guess I'm a bit nervous about over-doing it with a 170 or so year old musket.

      I made a New Years Resolution to try to post a firearm a week, starting with the oldest models and working up to the WWI rifles before the Great War's anniversary in August. That gives me some leeway in case I miss a week here and there.
    4. blunderbuss2 blunderbuss2, 10 years ago
      Don't worry, you're hero status is secure. I've found that light loads are just lobbing the ball out & can't hit S. I've found that the accuracy increases with charge up to a point & after that you start getting "flyers". It is a smooth bore after all. By this time steel was fairly well developed but you hold it so I can't examine the overall condition. My guess is that you will get your best accuracy between 60-70 grs double X.
      Looking forward to some more of your jewels!
    5. Chrisnp Chrisnp, 10 years ago
      Thanks for the info. This one's my only smooth bore.
    6. blunderbuss2 blunderbuss2, 10 years ago
      Well that's easy to correct. Go buy some more just so you can poste them for us! LOL
    7. Chrisnp Chrisnp, 10 years ago
      Thanks for the love petey, Manikin, walksoftly, Blackshiep1, vanskyock24, pw-collector, aghcollect, Windwalker, toolate2 and fortapache.
    8. blunderbuss2 blunderbuss2, 10 years ago
      Oversight on my rating.
    9. Chrisnp Chrisnp, 10 years ago
      Thanks Blunder

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