Item Description
Original Item: One-of-a-kind. This is an exceptionally rare and desirable P1730 (Pattern 1730) Brown Bess Musket which was the very first pattern of Brown Bess initially known as the "King's Pattern" musket. There are fewer than 20 known surviving examples in existence today, with the majority of those guns in museums and only a handful to be known in private collections. Known museums examples are:
6 at Colonial Williamsburg
5 at Museum of Edinburgh
1 at Royal Armouries Museum Leeds
1 at Valley Forge National Historical Park (Neumann Collection)
1 at Fort Ticonderoga (Nitollo collection)
This amazing example has just been released from a private museum collection and is just as we received it, having been on private display for many decades. We suspect it originated from Flixton Hall in England in the early 1950's, when the entire arms collection was acquired by the well known English collector and dealer Keith Neal who we understand supplied many of the Brown Bess muskets to the Colonial Williamsburg Collection in Virginia.
The barrel on this fine example is in .75 bore and measures 46 1/4", with a clear CROWN / GR proof on the breech. There also appears to be the remains of a larger "crown" engraving a few inches farther down the barrel. The banana shaped lock with without a frizzen support bar, typically called a “bridle”, was not introduced until later in the 18th century. The lock plate tail is engraved E. COOKES (EDWARD COOKES) over the date of 1729. It is also marked with a Crown over G.R. mid lock for King George II, with the "lock viewers mark" underneath the frizzen. Action is strong and holds at half cock and fired correctly at full cock. The lock is quite clean and in great shape.
It is fully brass mounted with the very early and correct Brown Bess mounts. It is fitted with a wooden ramrod with a brass front tip which matches the musket perfectly but may well be a working life replacement. The musket bears a very attractive stock swell around the brass throat pipe, and retains its unmarked brass escutcheon or thumb plate. Overall length is approximately 62".
The musket is offered in truly wonderful condition and very closely resembles the well known example in the Colonial Williamsburg Collection, being also by the same maker and even in the same 1729 year. For more information please see the lovely 2010 work The Brown Bess: An Identification Guide and Illustrated Study of Britain's Most Famous Musket by Erik Goldstein and Stuart C. Mowbray, pages 18 to 29. A wonderful book that has become something of a Brown Bess Bible!
A fantastic example of the rarest of Brown Bess Muskets. Offered in splendid condition and ready to be the center piece of antique firearms collection!
Specifications:
Year of Manufacture: 1729
Caliber: .75" Musket
Ammunition Type: Lead Ball & Powder
Barrel Length: 46 1/4 inches
Overall Length: 62 inches
Action: Flintlock
Feed System: Muzzle-Loaded
NOTE: International orders of antique firearms MUST be shipped using UPS WW Services (courier). USPS Priority Mail international will not accept these.
- This product is available for international shipping.
IMA considers all of our antique guns as non-firing, inoperable and/or inert. Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 921(a)(16) defines antique firearms as all guns made prior to 1899. This law exempts antique firearms from any form of gun control or special engineering because they are not legally considered firearms. No FFL, C&R or any license is required to possess, transport, sell or trade Antique guns. All rifles and muskets sold by IMA that were manufactured prior to 1899 are considered Antiques by the US BATF (United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms). Therefore, all of IMA's Antique guns may be shipped to all US States and most nations around the world.
These antique guns are not sold in "live" condition. They are sold as collector's items or as "wall hangers". Any attempt at restoring an antique gun to be operational is strongly discouraged and is done so at the risk of the customer. By purchasing an antique gun from IMA you thereby release IMA, its employees and corporate officers from any and all liability associated with use of our Antique guns.
Pre-1899 Manufacture, no licenses required, allowed to ship to almost any deliverable address across the globe. Please note that for international shipping, these MUST be shipped using UPS WW Services.
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