Irish registry numbers?

[Granville]

Good morning. I have a British Blunderbuss with a Tower lock. Brass furniture with Iron barrel. It has numbers on the barrel and but plate stamped on them, that match. I can tell them to be original to the times by the even patina on the gun. I was talking to a collector at a show who said it was Irish numbers, does anybody know what this means? or what era this was? Thanks in advance!

[Rajin cajun]

Need photo .!!🤷‍♂️

[Seth Isaacson]

You should be able to identify what county it was registered in based on the letters with the number.

This was shared in a previous thread on the forum:

https://irishconstabulary.com/police-marks-on-firearms-ireland-1843-act-county-c-t1932.html

These marks are to be found stamped on the top of gun barrels of  arms registered under the Arms Act of 1843, County letters followed by a numeral or numerals.
                   
The letters were appointed by the Chief Secretary Ireland.  (These marks are not to be confused with those found on Irish Police arms, with prefix letters C., R.I.C., and R.P., followed by numerals, as these stand for: Constabulary - Royal Irish Constabulary - Revenue Police).
Antrim  = AN
Armagh = AR
Carlow = C-W
Cavan = C-N
Clare = CL
Cork East Riding = E-C
Cork West Riding = W-C
Donegal = D-L
Down = D-N
Dublin = DU
Fermanagh = F
Galway = G
Kerry = KE
Kildare = K-D
Kilkenny = K-K
King's Co = K-S
Leitrim = LE
Limerick = L-K
Londonderry = L-Y
Longford = L-D
Louth = L-H
Mayo = MA
Meath = ME
Monaghan = M-N
Queen's Co = Q
Roscommon = R
Sligo = S
Tipperary North Riding = N-T
Tipperary South Riding = S-T
Tyrone = TY
Waterford = WA
Westmeath = W-M
Wexford = W-X
Wicklow = WI

Cork Borough = C-B
Dublin City = D-C
Kilkenny Borough = K-B
Limerick Borough = L-B
Waterford Borough = W-B
 
Ref - Arms Act Ireland, 1843 (6 and 7 Victoriae Cap., 74)
The Journal of The Arms & Armour Society. Vol. VI, No. 10. June, 1970. (Police Marks on Arms of Irish Provenance by Oliver Snoddy)
Notes: See the illustration of the process of stamping in the Illustrated London News of 16th March,1844.
In all there seem to have been 44 presses at work eventually throughout the country.

[Mattox Forge]

We were told by Mr. Bottomley when these were purchased that the numbers are "Irish registration" numbers. These appear to be more modern than 1843 and the codes don't seem to follow. Are these a different sort of marking? It seems to be a serial: APX-64-FX-73 and APX-65-FX-73

Thanks,

Mike

[heinz]

This is getting confusing.  The OP asked about a blunderbuss without photos.
The Mattox Forge post is about cased dueling pistols.  What are the make of the pistols? Look like very fine pistols.  I am not sure about the case.

I am not sure about the format of Irish registration marks. If anyone knows, that would be informative.

Buy the gun, not the story

Answered my own question. The Mark is the county code followed by a number.  The numbers were consecutive  as guns were registered. There is a photo on this site
https://ramrodantiques.blogspot.com/2016/02/county-down-irish-registration-act-1843.html
https://ramrodantiques.blogspot.com/2016/02/county-down-irish-registration-act-1843.html

[Mattox Forge]

Sorry I barged in. Didn't mean to hijack the thread. I started to post the photos as an example of what I believed were Irish markings. I had no other information other than what we were told when the pistols were purchased. Seth I posted a nice reference in the meantime. After looking at that, and finding no APX listed as a county, the marks on my pistols don't seem to conform. So now I don't know if they actually are Irish markings, hence the questions.

The pistols are by Wooley and & Deacon. The case is rather banged up and in need of some restoration.

Mike

[Niall]

We were told by Mr. Bottomley when these were purchased that the numbers are "Irish registration" numbers. These appear to be more modern than 1843 and the codes don't seem to follow. Are these a different sort of marking? It seems to be a serial: APX-64-FX-73 and APX-65-FX-73

Thanks,




Mike

Those are relatively recent Indian arsenal marks........ There is/was a requirement that all firearms in India be stamped,even antique ones.   Mr. Bottomley would know that....Those pistols were in India in the not too distant past.

Still nice pistols though.

[Niall]

Good morning. I have a British Blunderbuss with a Tower lock. Brass furniture with Iron barrel. It has numbers on the barrel and but plate stamped on them, that match. I can tell them to be original to the times by the even patina on the gun. I was talking to a collector at a show who said it was Irish numbers, does anybody know what this means? or what era this was? Thanks in advance!

Matching letters-numbers on the barrel and butt plate would suggest Irish registration marks. It may not have been Irish made but was in Ireland in the period c.1843-1846.

[lexington1]

Here are marks on my 1742 Pattern Brown Bess, which was used by the 18th Reg't (the Royal Irish). I was told it was an Irish tax mark, but did not really know what that meant. Thanks for the information!

[Longknife]

Well I learned something today! I have an Irish Blunderbuss that is marked Parkinson on the lock and Dublin on the barrel. The barrel and but plate is stamped L-H 639. That tells me it was registered in Louth county. It is also stamped PCA on the underside stock between the toe and trigger guard, What does that mean?

 Also, I have another Irish BB, it is marked Elton on the lock and Monaghan on the barrel but without any stampings. I assume it had already left the country when the law went into effect.,,,,Ed 

[Granville]

Here are the photos of the English Blunderbuss.

[Niall]

Here are the photos of the English Blunderbuss.

The B/buss above started out as a military (brown bess) musket and was later converted to a more usable format for civilian use, the barrel being shortened and belled. The reg. marks are for King's County which would nowadays be better known as County Offaly.

[Niall]

 Also, I have another Irish BB, it is marked Elton on the lock and Monaghan on the barrel but without any stampings. I assume it had already left the country when the law went into effect.,,,,Ed

Or maybe just wasn't presented for registration...Have you any photos.....could it be Eaton?

[heinz]

Niall, I would say Kings Co on the Blunderbuss

[Granville]

Thanks for the interesting information! Was a Tower lock a later model Bess? Is there any way to date the piece? Roughly speaking at least?

[Steve Collward]

Granville,
  It looks like it is probably ca. 1790's-early 1800's.  Do you have a photo of the left side showing the side plate?

[Granville]

picture upload

[mr. no gold]

I have a fancy 1760 period fowler that has 'D 3997' stamped on the right side quarter flat of the barrel somewhat ahead of the lock.
The Registry List shows three "D" designations, but each one is paired up with a second letter to represent the three Irish counties that begin with 'D.' These then are followed by four numbers. Anyone have an idea what the single D means? This gun was posted some years back on the Antique Forum. It is a dainty, and quite fancy, silver wire decorated fowler. Just a post script to this little gun: It was made in England, may have come to America for a time, went to Ireland, and then ended up in South Africa. It came back to America from there, and was last sold at the Las Vegas Winter... Show.
Dick

[Niall]

Thanks for the interesting information! Was a Tower lock a later model Bess? Is there any way to date the piece? Roughly speaking at least?

It's pre-1811 when the ring necked cock was introduced on the India pattern,so Steve is pretty close.

[Niall]

I have a fancy 1760 period fowler that has 'D 3997' stamped on the right side quarter flat of the barrel somewhat ahead of the lock.
The Registry List shows three "D" designations, but each one is paired up with a second letter to represent the three Irish counties that begin with 'D.' These then are followed by four numbers. Anyone have an idea what the single D means? This gun was posted some years back on the Antique Forum. It is a dainty, and quite fancy, silver wire decorated fowler. Just a post script to this little gun: It was made in England, may have come to America for a time, went to Ireland, and then ended up in South Africa. It came back to America from there, and was last sold at the Las Vegas Winter... Show.
Dick

Mr No.
Have you got a link to that previous post......May be Irish reg. marks, may not be...Should have matching stamps on the butt plate...if there is one.
Sometimes the marks are hand stamped individually...for some reason...maybe they just left out a letter......hardly though as the Irish Constabulary was a     
very disciplined force.

[mr. no gold]

Niall, thank you for your response. The gun furniture is paktong and there are no other marks on it other than Birmingham proofs on the barrel and a very obscured name on the lock which may be 'Thames" or Timms. 'London' appears on the top barrel flat. Sorry I posted so long ago that I no longer have an address for it on the Forum, for easy reference. But, I copied some of the responses to the post so if I can find those, I can give you the info. Thanks again.
Dick