Guns of Revolution: The History of the Land Pattern Brown Bess Muskets
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 ก.ค. 2023
- The Long Land Pattern musket and its derivatives, all 0.75 inch calibre flintlock muskets, were the standard long guns of the British Empire's land forces from 1722 until 1838, when they were superseded by a percussion cap smoothbore musket. The British Ordnance System converted many flintlocks into the new percussion system known as the Pattern 1839 Musket. A fire in 1841 at the Tower of London destroyed many muskets before they could be converted. Still, the Brown Bess saw service until the middle of the nineteenth century.
Most male citizens of the thirteen colonies of British America were required by law to own arms and ammunition for militia duty. The Long Land Pattern was a common firearm in use by both sides in the American War of Independence.
In 1808 during the Napoleonic Wars, the United Kingdom subsidised Sweden (during the Sweden-Finland period) in various ways as the British government anxiously wanted to keep an ally in the Baltic Sea region. These included deliveries of significant numbers of Brown Bess-muskets for use in the Finnish War of 1808 to 1809.
During the Musket Wars (1820s-30s), Māori warriors used Brown Besses purchased from European traders at the time. Some muskets were sold to the Mexican Army, which used them during the Texas Revolution of 1836 and the Mexican-American War of 1846 to 1848. Brown Besses saw service in the First Opium War and during the Indian rebellion of 1857. Zulu warriors, who had also purchased them from European traders, used them during the Anglo-Zulu War in 1879. One was even used in the Battle of Shiloh in 1862, during the American Civil War.
I believe the gun that they THINK fired the first shot of bunker hill was a Dutch military musket that was already 80 years old at the time of the American revolution. If so that would mean milsurp was popular back then just like now in the US.
very true
That's the gun that the soldier that fired that first shot was later court martialed for firing before ordered I think?
That is 1 reason the Brits stopped putting dates on the locks. The soldiers knew they were using old ordinance and were afraid of it!
It would be the equivelent of shooting a mosin or a mauser rifle from WW2 today They can fail but it's most likely they won't.@@galenavery6779
For Clarity: first shot at Bunker Hill….or first shot of revolution? The ‘shot heard round the world’ was in Concord, MA at the old North Bridge. BTW: Boston / Lexington /Concord is worth the visit if you’re into history.
I'd venture to say that under Combat conditions, a soldiers mouth would be so dry that the paper from the Cartridges would not stick to his mouth. Thanks for taking the time to show how it was done! Most Excellent!
thankyou verymuch
Great stuff, thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it!
The Brown Bess is a thing of beauty, really great to see it firing in your video. I was once in the 2nd Btn 95th Rifles (re-enactment) and our main weapon being the Baker Rifle. But I love the simplicity and utilitarian aspects of the Brown Bess which was an effective tool. I have an inert Brown Bess for display purposes and treasure it. A great video, many thanks.
Fun fact, when they finally standardized on the .72 cal they accidentally gave us the most popular shotgun bore diameter of all time, we know it today as 12 ga. When self-contained cartridges came about, they simply used the most popular smoothbore musket diameter to develop into the 12ga 2 1/2 in shotshells.
Another side note, one of the French officers sent over during the revolution complained that he couldn't get the militia men to look away upon firing and the US officers told him to simply change his training technique and allow the militia men to sight their muskets.
Also, the Americans introduced a load that was complained about being unsporting by the brits known as the "Buck and Ball" load where they used the same round ball with 4 smaller diameter balls on top to increase their chances of hitting. The US kept the buck and bal loading all the way up into the "War of Northern aggresion" aka the Civil War because the south still had large stocks of the 1842 Springfield and many troops kept them until enough Springfield rifle-muskets could be captured, produced, or run through the blockade. Generally, by 1863, smoothbores had been phased out of service, even in the South.
yes they did
I live near the Wilson Creek Battlefield. It was small as those battles go and only lasted a few hours.
The union forces had a line on ‘Bloody Ridge’ the confederate forces attacked from the creek valley. Most of the fighting took place well within smoothbore range. This was August 1861, many confederates had their own rifles and shotguns. Most of the Union troops had rifles but the terrain didn’t give long range an advantage
Well well done guys. in the Intro you did a volley fire. Other then a re-enactor club, only the Woods Family could do that. Ethan: great history.
lol yeah not gona lie that was a blast... pun intended. have a happy independence day!
The sad part of this is is we definitely have enough muskets to do way bigger. Volleys problem is we had a hard time finding enough people
And here we go
I have a King's musket, long land pattern replica, Tower 1742, made by Narragansett Arms in the 1990's. It's clean and works great! Flintlocks are new to me, and boy are they fun!
they are a BLAST lol
Welcome back!! I hope everything went well in June.
It did happy independence day 🎉
I love it when you boys stage a skirmish. Just so entertaining!
Wonder if they ever thought about impregnating the paper with cherry flavor so it would excite your taste buds when you tear it off with your teeth.
Lol that may do something for moral. Thanks for watching Santee
No Santee we can't be eating the ammunition lol
Ethan, BRAVO ZULU!! As always another great brief.. Mebe' a Brown Bess will be in my future someday also..
Go for it!
That was awesome! Nice start to the 4th of July . HAPPY independence day to you and your family. 🤠
Same to you!
Food for thought. At the time the Brown Bess was used, it was the most advanced assault weapon of it's time. It was the way war was waged.
very true
Ethan you're my favorite souped-up hillbilly happy Independence Day brother
lol same to you
It was that Pritchett lovin Paper Cartridge channel that said he would like to "see" someone shoot 3 rounds a minute.
That guys a real nerd.
lol
@@papercartridges6705
Happy 4th of July my guy!
Same to you
Gettysburg +160 today. Reread the Gettysburg Address, and re-dedicate to every word!
Shall this republic fail on our watch?
Great show truly a masterpiece happy Independence Day fellas and thank you
Same to you!
Enjoyed the video would be interesting to see a video on volley fire and its affectivness
Enjoyed the video 👍btw very nice shooting range 😎👍🇺🇸
thankyou
@@Real11BangBang thank you 👍
I recently took a class with the Curator of the Fort Ticonderoga museum where we got to see and handle original muskets, including several Brown Bess muskets, one long land pattern with the wooden ramrod, a later version with a metal ramrod, a Belgian contract Short Pattern and an India Pattern. The one thing the Curator said is that the India made guns are MUCH closer to the original guns than the Pedersoli guns. The Pedersoli guns are great but they're overbuilt and made with the more modern method and everything to super tight tolerances. The Indian made guns, the wood is more correct, the whole overall look is better and yes, they're made better than originals, but the originals were built really well themselves.
My hometown! Good to see you here - lots of super cool stuff up there. :)
Also just purchased a 1748 Brown Bess Artillery Carbine - love it! Got it from Veterans Arms.
The wood on the Indian guns is usually teak, not English walnut. As far as the originals not being made as well, some of my originals are more than 200 yeas old and I still shoot them, so do my fellow collectors shoot theirs. I think they were made extremely well.
Happy Independence Day, boys! RLTW!
same to you!
I just got around to watching this... good Job Ethan...
Thank you cap'n
I watched Ted Spring, who wrote the sketch books for the French and Indian war, get off twenty one shots in three minutes and forty five seconds, at the mid west musket frolic at the Boone house in Defiance Mo in 1986
Happy Independence Day! I've always preferred the Long Land Patterns (cuz I've never had to march w/one) over the Short Land Besses. This must have been one of the funner videos to research and film. Well done! 👍👍🇺🇲 🇺🇲
thank you yes! we burned 2 lbs of powder in the intro alone!
I'm really happy to see you ole coons back on here! Excellent video; I thoroughly enjoyed it. Of course, I'm rather partial to flintlocks! Keep em comin'!!!
TC
glad to be back! hopfully have your video out next week
I like the Land Pattern Brown Bess Musket muskets. I like the longer one better. I always preferred the longer longer guns. Like the reacting. Appreciate the history lesson keep up the good work. David Back.
thanks for watching
Thanks for a great video
Guys! Happy independence day.
Thank you too!
Interesting point, there is no historical evidence of any British soldier ever referring to this gun as a brown Bess. Not in any diaries, contempory acounts or letters to home.
I believe the name of the channel is Chris the redcoat who stated it As such, "The land pattern musket was never officially called the brown bass. However, there are many letters, too and from home from soldiers and their families referring to the land pattern as the brown Bess.
As he stated it's kind of like referring to a football as a pigskin? It's not the actual name and it's rarely used but it is used nonetheless
Happy Independence Day! Great video, loved the volley fire and the skirmish in the dark is the best fireworks I've seen tonight! (Hunkered down with dogs, they don't like fireworks.) Hope your harvest went well and glad you are back!
Glad you enjoyed it
I tried posting this comment before, but it seems to have been removed. Did I say something verboten? Anyway, great video, guys, you did a really good job debunking the idiocy of people who think you can't hit anything with a smoothbore military musket; you know how I appreciate your attention to real records. I hate to say it, however, but you are off on the point about soldiers not looking away as they fired Bess. The Paper Cartridges channel has a video called "Paper Cartridges Shoots Brown Bess" in which they quote Colonel Wilford, chief instructor of the School of Musketry at Hythe, who was at Waterloo and saw the musket being used, and wrote that soldiers often looked away when firing. This is one of those rare times the wannabe "experts" who don't actually know anything actually get it right when they claim soldiers would close their eyes and look away.
Thank you for the kind words and the great comment. Yes, I'm sure that soldiers would have probably had looked away. I have a book called on killing that our drill. Sergeants made us go get whenever we were in basic training and the history in that book showed that in the 18th and 19th centuries over 50% of the rounds fired. Went over the heads of the enemy soldiers because looking down the barrel at another human and pulling the trigger is just not natural in world war II It improved a little bit but not by much and then by the time that we got to Vietnam and they started using actual human shaped silhouette targets for training, the hit rate started going up. Now were they supposed to close their eyes and look away? Absolutely not No military commander in their right mind would order his men to look away when the whole purpose of being out there in the first place is to inflict as much damage as you can in a short amount of time.
Once again thank you for the comment
Ethan
@@Real11BangBang quite right, Colonel Wilford was decrying the practice, not saying it was taught or even acceptable, only that it was common.
Great video. Like the history.
Thankyou
Thankyou
I have the Long Land Brown Bess "Roger's Rangers" carbine, which is very handy in the woods and acceptable accurate (although I have not done real testing as you have). I put a short video, not a #short, on my channel of me firing it for the 4th. You don't mention it in this video, so maybe you have to do a French & Indian war video too! Yee Haw. God Bless America!
Surprisingly enough, the shorter carbines in the northeast were more popular than the full length muskets. According to the book Small Arms of the British Forces in America 1664-1815, in 1765 there were more carbines in the armory at Fort Edward than there were muskets by 3 to 1. I would imagine that once the war broke out that the British were still using them among the light infantry and Queen's Rangers, the descendants of Roger's Rangers. During the Revolution, the British needed guns from anywhere they can get them, so they were contracting with Liege to make guns for them because they needed as many muskets as they could get as the war progressed. I have no doubt that those carbines that Rogers men had (although according to the Curator at Fort Ticonderoga when I asked him about what Roger's men carried, he said they carried a wide variety since many were recruited from Provincials who brought their own weapons) saw service once again during the American Revolution.
Oh! You meant the last revolution. I expected to see the new sig.
Nice version of Drowsy Maggie. Dont think I’ve ever heard it on fife and drum. Awesome!
Thanks a lot!
Great video!
Glad you enjoyed it
Depending on how long ago you ordered it, I doubt that you will have your 1776 rifle by next 4th of July. I'm currently working on building my short land brown bess I just received from from the rifle shoppe after waiting two years.
Happy 4th of July. I sure wished I was closer to you boys. I would love to sit and talk black powder with you. I have a question. I bought a Military Heritage short land pattern Brown Bess. Now for the giggle factor. The cock is 10 degrees from 90 when at rest. My Charleville and my 1728 St. Etienne cocks are more pronounce at rest. The Brown Bess throws a lot of spark and because of the short fall, I use a large flint, 1 in.. Its a big boy. My question is do I need to work on the brown Bess to have a longer throw. Also, guys Look up IMA-USA for flints. They sell by the pound authentic 18th century French and English flints. Its a great bargan considering how much flints cost. Check em out. Thank Guys. Have a great 4th.
Thank you so much for the kind words
So as to the issue with the cock sitting at the wrong position, my paget carbine which I'm working on has the exact same problem. We are currently working on this by welding the old hole shut drilling and cutting the corners with a square file and then re-hardening the cock and giving it the proper temper
A lot of people throw a fit about the Indian made locks and I will admit that some of them are off as far as geometry goes. However, I think this is probably better for a new shooter because it gives them a chance to actually figure out what makes a lock tick and how to fix it and once you get a couple of new springs and maybe a new hammer made for it they are some of the best locks that I've found out there.
Have a happy Independence Day!
excellent thanks
You're welcome. Thanks for watching
Great video
Glad you enjoyed it
If a soldier has gunpowder he could have used anything for a projectile, even rocks I would imagine. Getting hit at 750 ft per second with sharp rocks probably wouldn't be ideal.
Well done sir👍🏻🫡
The problem with the Brown Bess is that they are a bit hard to identify. I have one from my father in wonderful shape given its age. He always called it a revolutionary flintlock.
It’s got a ring neck cock but the stock is English walnut with orig finish. Nice! The lock is precisely fit and had a crown. I want to say it had GR on it but I don’t recall. The gun is in storage now.
Most long land and short land guns had gooseneck cocks. I wonder if any ring neck cocks were used in the revolution.
The gun was obtained in GA circa 1948. So I wonder if it had anything to do with the India pattern Guns.
It’s great for launching golf balls and making lots of smoke. But I prefer a 50 cal mini ball for chasing elk.
Dope!
Awesome video ! May I ask what is the tune playing in the background at the beginning of the video ?
Drowsy Maggie
funny story of how that song got placed in this video is because my wife was trying not to fall asleep and her name is Maggie so I played her the song as a joke then realized it would be a great opener
@@Real11BangBang Thanks so much . The tune that follows is also a real gem. Do you know it's name ? Thanks for your work in putting out these high quality videos. I've subscribed so that I won't miss one ! You've got me wishing for a matchlock now :- ]
It sounds weird, but I fucking loved that intro end with the cut to black as if we the audience have been killed. Scary to think that both sides had seen that exact thing before they died.
I love your shirt and vest. Where does one get these cloths? Thanks
these come from towsends
How do you go about proofing a musket once the flash hole has been drilled?
The standard way it would have been done in the 1700s. This is still the best way. Take the gun out. Double loaded, meaning twice the charge you would generally load in it. Which for us is generally on a brown bass or such around 400 grains and a round ball. Now, what you want to do is pull the trigger with a string from a distance, and then go back over the barrel with calipers and check for any bulges.
@@Real11BangBang Thanks.
Very interesting, can you tell me if a brown Bess that has been converted to percussion has any value. Thanks. Cheers from Jacksonville Florida 🌞
well honestly it would depend on the year the gun was made, the condition the gun was in and who did the convertion. but generally worth a good deal less then an original flinter.
What is that music from the beginning called?
Drowsy maggie
What would be a good pistol to go with the long land brown Bess
Either the land pattern pistol for the light land pattern pistol
I recently got a charleville musket from military heritage and it's good except the barrel bands are practically glued into the stock. What's the best way to get them out
I'd take the rammer and tap them out
@@Real11BangBang the barrel bands are made of brass. The steel rammer shouldn't damage them right?
Nevermind
Did you get it?
@@Real11BangBang yes thank you
Hey...some of my best friends are suped up hillbillys
lol
720p?
....
Yep
Happy treason day to the Woods clan from one of your limey subscribers. God Save the King 😁
Thank you from our side of the pond and I've got to say your country has put out some pretty awesome firearms throughout history.
Pard, YOU raise an anguishing point for all that study the Scriptures!
I know that for this video you are dressed in period clothing. However, no matter the "period", you should be wearing shooting/safety glasses, ESPECIALLY shooting a flintlock. Powder specks in the eye(s) is not fun. Anyway, this is a great video :) :) :)
Happy Independence Day ungrateful colonials! 😉🤣 . Great video thank you! . 🇬🇧🇺🇸
Thank you too
I still make out better using a shooters block ...but, rock on....
Thanks will do
Your lock is way slow
? 5:56 5:17 11:10 I don't think a hang fire or two over the course of 150 shots necessarily means a slow lock.
Which kind are you talking about? Because there are several of them on here lol. I think they're all pretty quick. There might be a hang fire every now and then, but that's to be expected with long periods of firing
Happy forth… American pride month
same to you!!