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India Pattern Type 1 Brown Bess Musket

The official designation for this musket is the Pattern 1793 Musket. It is also known as the India Pattern (Type 1) Brown Bess Musket, and the Third Pattern Brown Bess Musket. Each name refers to the same firearm.

My India Pattern Brown Bess Musket has a 39" smooth-bore barrel and measures about 54 3/4" in overall length. It fires a .75 caliber round lead ball. It was made sometime between 1794 and 1809. We know this because it is equipped with the older style goose-neck cock (left) and the older-style flash pan (right), with

“spoon shaped” sides. Muskets made after 1809 typically had flash pans with parallel sides.

This is a Board of Ordnance musket. This means it was built for, and accepted by the British government entity responsible for the acquisition and issue of approved military weapons and accoutrements. It has British Ordnance marks on the lock and barrel. The ones shown below are found on the breach end of the barrel.

The storekeeper’s mark is stamped on the right side of the stock. This mark consists of a broad arrow over the initials BO (Board of Ordnance) over the number 1, over the year 1833. 1833 is not the year the musket was made. Rather, it is the year that a particular storekeeper inventoried the musket and added it to his records.

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There are several other important marks on this musket. For example, "L-H 383" is stamped onthe butt-plate tang (left) and barrel. Under Irish law, every county had to register firearms located in their jurisdiction. The prefix “L-H” was assigned to Louth County, which is north of Dublin. My musket was assigned L-H 383, which means it was the 383rd firearm registered in Louth County, Ireland. An Internet search found three other India Pattern Brown Bess muskets with the same registration number. This is unusual, as the normal procedure was to use a different registration number for each musket. The person marking these muskets may have made a mistake, or perhaps he decided to apply the same number to each musket in a small group of associated firearms.

Additional characters are engraved on the butt-plate tang (left). The top letter is clearly an “F.” This might refer to: Company F, Fusilier (Line Infantry), or something else. The next two digits are difficult to decipher because they are written in script format.

The inscription "H.D.N.L. MILITIA" is prominently engraved on top of the barrel (below). As was the practice, this label was probably added at the Tower armory. These initials may refer to "Heavy Dragoons North Louth Militia," or point to a different militia unit, such as the North Lincoln (NL) Battalion of the Royal Lincolnshire Militia Regiment. I’m not sure.

Another interesting mark is found inside the lock. It's a crown over 22, along with a "K&A" maker’s mark. "K&A" was used by Ketland and Allport of Birmingham, England. They were the second largest maker of India pattern muskets during the Napoleonic Wars, supplying the Board of Ordnance from 1804 until 1819. The mark suggests this musket was made by Ketland & Allport.

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More marks can be seen in the ramrod channel. There are three inspection marks; a crown over 17, a crown over 61, and a crown over 27. There are also two other marks. The first is a series of three vertical lines, while the second is a series of four vertical lines.

The four marks are also repeated in three places inside the lock. They appear on the lock sear, tumbler, and the bridle. The series of four hash marks were placed during fitment and assembly of the musket. All parts with matching marks indicate they belong together and were not added at a later date. Muskets made during this period were hand fitted. Most parts were not interchangeable from musket to musket. Keeping track of the various parts for each gun became critical when the gun maker assembled a batch of new muskets. Most used a series of simple and varied chisel marks to accomplish this task.