Description

A particularly fine and heavy brass barreled blunderbuss by Samuel Love, c1720.

The banana shaped convex lock is characteristic of the early years of the 18c. The root wood stock having fine figuring and original varnish. The three stage barrel has clear proof marks. The brass furniture has rococo engraving and a side plate formed as a griffin. The early ram rod having brass tip and screw end missing.

The embossed brass mounts signed: 'Samuel Love', successor to John Fowell who made the barrel.

The blunderbuss half-cocks, cocks and releases smoothly with a strong spring.

~ Dimensions ~

The blunderbuss has a length of 31.5 inches (80cm), with the barrel measuring 16.25 inches (41cm). The blunderbuss weighs 3.5 Kg.

~ Condition ~

The condition of the gun is very good with minor age wear.

~ Postage ~

UK postage is £12 or it can be collected from our shop in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.

~ Blunderbuss ~

In the early 1700s the blunderbuss (or blunderbess) started to become popular as a weapon for close quarters because of its ability to deliver a blast of shot or buck and ball. Numerous armies and navies produced various versions of this item all the way into the 1840s. However its zenith seems to have been in the mid-1700s when it was used both by soldiers, sailors, and civilians as a means of defence in close quarters. At one point, George Washington viewed the blunderbuss as an alternative to the carbine for the Continental Dragoons. It is no surprise considering its carbine-like length and feel.

Throughout the 18th century many blunderbusses in both brass and steel barrels were manufactured. On board ship often the steel barrels were japanned or blackened. As one could imagine, this item was ideal for fighting on ship particularly in repealing of enemy boarding parties. In addition their use by settlers in the American colonies is also well-documented. By the latter half of the 18th century the blunderbuss found a following with coachmen as a new tool to thwart the pistol-totting highwayman. The blunderbuss has also been romanticized as the choice firearm of the pirate or privateer. (tr