Committee of Safety muskets

[BOB HILL]

For those who might be interested the maker of Committee Of Safety muskets I met at the Ft. loudon 18th Century Traide Faire last Oct. was a Robert Vanlier of Earlysville, Va. I liked his muskets but also appreciated him volunteering a seat to my partially disabled brother for the reenactment.

.                                                                                                                                                                                Treebeard, I haven't seen Robert in years. He is a fine gentleman.    Bob

[jerrywh]

 I really don't know what a committee of safety musket is or would look like.  I am interested because I love the history and the guns of the time. Building guns like that is a lot of fun because for me it takes away from the stress of always demanding perfection clients. I never thought I would build a Trade gun but I am and it's more fun tha nI have had for years. I would like to see some photos of some .

[SingleMalt]

My nickels worth.  As stated before, CoS muskets ordered before 1775, tended to follow the Brown Bess pattern.  The "GR" cypher was missing from the lock plates, but I've seen pictures where the name of the colony was engraved on the butt plate tang or barrel. 

Maybe I'm splitting hairs, but to my mind the CoS were disbanded or rolled into colonial militias after the start of hostilities.  After this, I'd call them "battlefield salvage" muskets. 

Were French locks used?  Most certainly so.  But, so were Hessian, Dutch, English, and locally made locks and furniture.  A musket sporting a French lock with a Brown Bess barrel, with a mixture of furniture stocked in ash would be not only correct but very interesting.