Early 19th Century English Bayonet Mounted Blunderbuss With A Back Action Percussion Lock
A 3/4 stocked blunderbuss with a brass canon barrel and a top mounted sprung bayonet, later converted to the percussion cap system.
It has a brass engraved trigger guard, brass buttplate and ramrod pipe. It also has a heavy brass ramrod which is not original.
The piece isn't signed but the lockplate has good floral engraving and the barrel is stamped on the bottom with the post 1813 Birmingham Proof Marks.
The mainspring is good and the action is crisp in both half and full position.
The stock has a rich dark polished colouration, but there are a good number of bruises, a crack to the right of the barrel tang and a section of wood has been let in where the original lock would have been.
The sprung bayonet is triggered by a sliding catch on the barrel tang and this all works as it should with the bayonet swinging forward fiercely.
The metalwork is in good condition with the steelwork having a nice dark grey patina and the brasswork being unpolished.
The blunderbuss was a hugely popular firearm from the mid 18th Century, well into the 19th Century and used for a variety of roles such as the Military to Coach Guards to Civilian home protection.
This one obviously meant enough to someone to get it converted to the new percussion cap system probably in the 1830's or 40's.
A great looking firearm with the brass barrel and added sprung bayonet.
Barrel length 30cm, Overall length 67cm.
This antique pistol is considered obsolete and non functioning, and is sold as a collectable ornamental item. This product is available for purchase in the UK without a license
