The newest addition to the collection 1690 English Blunderbuss

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gr8dane99

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This is the newest antique in my collection, its a English Blunderbuss circa 1690. I has a brass barrel with strawberry engraving on it (I couldn't get a good pic of it though). Unfortunately it is missing the ramrod and the lock was updated from flit to a cap at some point but it's still pretty cool. It also has a unique brass swivel mount which can come off when not mounted to the ship or what ever it was mounted to. If anyone has any information on this blunderbuss where I can get more info on it it would be awesome

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It is a flint lock converted to percussion. This could have been done 1830s on. The style of the lock is not late 17th century, though. More likely ca 1800.
There are proofs visible on the barrel. It would be interesting to see a close up of these.
 
I tried taking pictures of the proofs but they were not clear because of the flash but I'm working on that and hope to have a better up asap. The lock has been replaced so the gun is not from the 1830s (you can see wear marks from the original lock). I got the date of 1690 from a book that had a brief article about the gun the only problem is I lost/forgot the name of the book so I cant figure out anything else about the gun. All I know is the date and I think it said it was British or French
 
Also to help date the gun, the breech section of the barrel is octagonal then turning into polygonal, engraved with strawberry foliage which was style of the time.
 
gr8dane99 said:
I tried taking pictures of the proofs but they were not clear because of the flash but I'm working on that and hope to have a better up asap. The lock has been replaced so the gun is not from the 1830s (you can see wear marks from the original lock). I got the date of 1690 from a book that had a brief article about the gun the only problem is I lost/forgot the name of the book so I cant figure out anything else about the gun. All I know is the date and I think it said it was British or French
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Are you refering to the marks and inletting from the flint ####? Carefully remove the lock, and inspect the inletting - this should provide evidence of the lock being original to the stock or a later replacement. It is also very unusual for a ca 1700 lock to be retained by only a single screw. Two or three would be much more typical. There is also the possibility that the gun was assembled a couple of hundred years ago from even older parts.
 
I had the same questions about the single screw holding the lock in place, so I did a google search and there are similar blunderbusses from the time that were flintlocks with only one screw, also I am talking about the marks on the barrel that look like the frizzen was rubbing against it. There is also part of the stock near the breach that has a rim(where a v notch has be cut out in one of the pictures), this rim has been shaved off near where the hammer is which show some altercations from the original. I would remove the lock to take a closer look but I'm not experienced enough to start disassembling it and looking for any problems (I wouldn't even know what to look for)
 
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well the rail mount sure aint 1690 LOL. Just guessing by 'feel' I would put parts assembly in the mid 20 th century.
 
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