Original Blunderbuss Proof Testing the Barrel

[davec2]

Back in 2016 I was commissioned to build a brass barreled blunderbuss.  Here is the link to the original posts

https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=38909.0

The fellow who I made this for has contacted me again about a smaller version.  He happened across an original blunderbuss that was significantly smaller and lighter than then one I built for him in the link above.  Here are some details:

Brass cannon barrel 12.5” long with clear proof & view marks and engraved  “LONDON” 
Brass mounts in good condition
Lock is marked “NICHOLSON” and is in excellent working condition
Back of the lock marked “IW”
Excellent wood, no cracks and no missing pieces
Bore is ~ 7 gauge ( ~0.9”)

The owner has asked me to make a near bench copy of it.  Of course, the barrel is the hardest part to duplicate and I am heading toward machining it myself from bar stock.  However, before I get started I wanted to ask this knowledgeable community for an assessment of this piece.  This is really the very first original firearm that I have handled directly and it appears to be in excellent condition….at least to my untrained eye.  Also, I do not have any reference materials that I can use to find out more about who “NICHOLSON” was.  There are no markings on the gun other than what shows up in the following photos.  Any comments and / or information anyone might be able to provide would be most appreciated.  Thanks

(I'm having trouble posting the photos......again !  I will follow up with a few photos at a time.)

[davec2]

[davec2]

[Craig Wilcox]

Nice historical piece, David. The lock is nicely done.

Would you machine the barrel from a simple brass bar?  Going to be a lot of brass chips on the floor after machining that cannon muzzle.  And do you have the means of drilling the bore?  Is it possible to cast that barrel?

Love the shortness of the piece - just over 2' in length; right tidy for crowd-control work.

Going to be an interesting follow-along.  Walnut stock or maple.  And will you tackle the barrel first, or the lock?

[Steeltrap]

Going to watch as this progress's. That brass barrel is interesting. Could that be made in two pieces...the barrel and then the flared front?  Then either threaded or brazed together to form the barrel? I would think that's a lot less in brass lathe shavings on the floor!!

[Bigmon]

WOW is that nice, and interesting.  Take a look at this old repro I picked up years ago.  Pretty much alike, cept for the lock, and of course quality.
I do not have a pic here to show of the TG, but mine is about exactly the same, even the engraving?
If anyone knows anything about my repro, I'd like to know about it.



upload pics

[Hudnut]

Going to watch as this progress's. That brass barrel is interesting. Could that be made in two pieces...the barrel and then the flared front?  Then either threaded or brazed together to form the barrel? I would think that's a lot less in brass lathe shavings on the floor!!

Why couldn't the muzzle portion be silver brazed on?  Seam at edge of the inner ring so it wouldn't show.  Not a simple butt joint, but one piece turned down, the other bored out.  There would be very little remaining pressure in the flared portion of the bore.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Over the years, I have collected images of original blunderbusses with the intent to someday, make one.  To that end, I have acquiured a length of navel brass that started out life as the drive shaft of a vessel of some kind - fishing boat, or tug?  The major part of it still remains buried in the shallow water and gravel in the harbour at what used to be called Queen Charlotte City, QCI, BC.  I was stationed there from 1971 to 1974, and when I discovered it in the shallow water at low tide, I got out my hack saw and a new blade, and waded out into the ocean and cut it off.  It's about 2" in diameter and about 24 inches long, and I now own a lathe big enough to turn it.  All I need to do is get a round toit.

[davec2]

Craig - No, I do not want to cast the barrel.  I will machine it out of 1 3/4" brass bar stock and, yes, there will be a lot of brass lathe chips on the floor !

Steeltrap & Hudnut- Yes, I could make the barrel in two pieces but the breach is 1 1/2" in diameter and the muzzle flare is 1 5/8".  Not worth the trouble to make the barrel in two pieces and the largest amount of brass needs to come out of the bore anyway.

Bigmon - Your reproduction looks similar.  What is the bore and the barrel length on yours ?

Taylor - Do it !!!  These are great fun to shoot and show stoppers at any shooting event. Everyone wants to see it being fired....or fire it 

[Craig Wilcox]

Sincerely hope you will post a "follow along" as you have with other of your builds.  Have really learned a lot from watching you.

[Bob Roller]

You will need long range sights from Mike Neumann in South Africa .

Bob Roller

[Joe S.]

Seen one exactly like the two shortys shown here except it had a spring loaded spike bayonet, brass barrel as well. Nifty looking original for sure, at least the owner said it was original.

[Daryl]

Runar made one of those some years back and
Posted it here at ALR.

[Rolf]

This looks really interesting. Hope you'll post the steps on barrel turning.

Best regards
Rolf

[Joe S.]

Daryl, one I seen was a gun show, wish I had the extra cash to buy it at the time.

[Bigmon]

Dave,
The barrel length is 15 1/4".  The bore at the muzzle is 1 3/16".  The actual inner bore is just under 7/8".  The lock is by "LOTT".
The barrel itself is pretty nice, but the rest is pretty crude.  But neat and shoots ok.

[davec2]

Daryl - I couldn't find Runar's blunderbuss post.....do you have a link ?

Rolf - Yes, I will post info on making the barrel

Bigmon - Looks like just some fairly easy rework of the stock would make that gun a LOT less "crude" as you describe it.  The barrel and lock look OK.....just way too much wood left on the stock.

[Hungry Horse]

 Hey Joe, I saw one just like these, complete with flip out bayonet, and marked with Nicholson on the lock. It also had the East India Company logo stamped on the buttplate. It was in an old gun shop in Willets California that closed a year or two after I tried to buy that little gun from him.

Hungry Horse

[smart dog]

Hi Dave,
The styling of your gun suggests it was made during the late 1770s or later.  The acorn trigger guard alone is strong evidence for that.  It was probably made by the later William Nicholson who specialized in plain utilitarian guns and muskets.  He was active in London from about 1780 to 1794.  He was also a contractor to the East India Company.  The lock and stocking were by someone very familiar with the King's pattern muskets and carbines, and the lock is a copy of those installed on some carbines before 1777.  The "IW" may be the mark for James Whissell who was a lock maker for the small gun office in the Tower of London during the late 1760s to the 1780s.  He would have been intimately familiar with that style lock. Perhaps the lock was sold as surplus to private makers after a number of design changes that occurred the late 1770s. 

dave

[JTR]

All I need to do is get a round toit.

Taylor, I don't know about you, but round toits seem to be getting harder and harder to find now days!
John

[Daryl]

Sorry Dave, I don't have the link.

[Seth Isaacson]

William Nicholson was active c. 1780-1794 in London. He was a contractor to the East India Company.

[davec2]

Thanks to all for the great information !!!  I very much appreciate the knowledge and generosity of this group !!! 

[flatsguide]

A few from “English Guns and Rifles by George” by George .

Cheers Richard

[maudite]

Here is a pic of one with folding bayonet