Brown Bess in its primary meaning, is
equivalent to brown barrel. Bus, in Dutch, is the barrel
of a gun; in Low Germ. büsse, in Swed. byssa. Hence
our English Bess, as applied to a gun-barrel.
The musket was transformed by the improvement of its firing
mechanism, with a spark produced by flint striking steel
igniting the priming powder which fired the main charge.
This meant that soldiers no longer needed to have a length
of smouldering cord to hand if they wished to fire their
weapons, and made muskets a little more reliable in windy
or damp weather. In 1722 regiments were ordered that any
new muskets should conform with the standard pattern,
and from then till the 1830s various variants of what
became known as Brown Bess were the standard British infantry
weapon.
This Classic British rifle
was smooth bore, firing a 75 caliber musket ball. That
is a 3/4 inch solid ball of lead! Used throughout the
American Revolutionary War by both sides, on land and
at sea, this replica musket features a full-length wood
stock. The overall length of this decorator model measures
in at a whopping 75" and weighs 7 lbs. A beautiful
historic collectible waiting to be displayed in any home
or office.
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