Brown Bess barrels

[roamer]

Evening,In looking at an original barrel of a brown bess it does not seem to be hammer welded or damascus ,any ideas how they were built

[Jim Kibler]

An original Brown Bess barrel was certainly forge welded.

[roamer]

Where would one look for the weld,I''m assuming it would be a relativeley a straight weld on the underside?

[camerl2009]

Where would one look for the weld,I''m assuming it would be a relativeley a straight weld on the underside?

its welded with a over lap it disappears affter its welded like this

try ima usa thay have kits made from the original brown bess's from the nepal cache

[roamer]

Thanks ,Iwould imagine those guns had their share of blowouts

[camerl2009]

Thanks ,Iwould imagine those guns had their share of blowouts

yes watch out there made in india but where proofed just like any brit gun 

[Levy]

I work on archaeologically recovered gun barrels and when they are cleaned in electrolysis and brushed off, you can see the weld seams in the barrels.  Sometimes there are more than just a longitudinal seam, but whole sections are welded on.  the last 3 Type G tradegun barrels that I worked on had the last few inches of the breech welded on to the barrel.  I've seen two Joseph Clarkson pistols recovered from a 1733 wreck that had the breech end of the barrel filed down thinner and then a strap welded on to build it back up to the proper diameter again.  Maybe this was believed to make the barrel breech stronger.

James Levy

[roamer]

Wow amazing ingenuity in the past .Id say we appreciate more what we have now

[Lucky R A]

Camer2009,  What is ima usa?   Without capital letters and puntctuation I have no idea what you are talking about....

[TPH]

ima usa = International Military Antiques. Viewable at:

www.ima-usa.com

Look under "Militaria" and then "Antique Guns" then everyone's favorite "Untouched Guns".

[Lucky R A]

Thanks Tom,  Interesting site!

[TPH]

The Brown Bess musket parts sets with the unfinished, new stocks are selling very well for them. They need some work (trigger and triggerguard pins are way off and need to be repositioned, easily done) but altogether they are interesting.  The "Nepal Cache" guns are selling  hand over fist and with new shipments, the prices keep rising. I have seen some of the restoration work on various Forums, some good and some bad, but many people are getting some pretty good examples of some unusual and rare guns under the hardened grease and dirt.

Still, for those of us that love military muskets and rifles it is tempting. The pre 1853 muzzleloaders that are Nepalese made were almost unknown until IMA brought these into Europe and America. As I understand it, the Nepalese armorers were trained by British Ordnance and their work, including barrels, is not bad.