Original British P1730 Dated Long Land Pattern Brown Bess Flintlock Musket by Edward Cookes – Dated 1729 Original Items

Original Item: One-of-a-kind. This is an exceptionally rare and desirable P1730 (Pattern 1730) Brown Bess Musket which was the very first pattern of Brown Bess initially known as the “King’s Pattern” musket. There are fewer than 20 known surviving examples in existence today, with the majority of those guns in museums and only a handful to be known in private collections. Known museums examples are:

6 at Colonial Williamsburg
5 at Museum of Edinburgh
1 at Royal Armouries Museum Leeds
1 at Valley Forge National Historical Park (Neumann Collection)
1 at Fort Ticonderoga (Nitollo collection)

This amazing example has just been released from a private museum collection and is just as we received it, having been on private display for many decades. We suspect it originated from Flixton Hall in England in the early 1950’s, when the entire arms collection was acquired by the well known English collector and dealer Keith Neal who we understand supplied many of the Brown Bess muskets to the Colonial Williamsburg Collection in Virginia.

The barrel on this fine example is in .75 bore and measures 46 1/4″, with a clear CROWN / GR proof on the breech. There also appears to be the remains of a larger “crown” engraving a few inches farther down the barrel. The banana shaped lock with without a frizzen support bar, typically called a “bridle”, was not introduced until later in the 18th century. The lock plate tail is engraved E. COOKES (EDWARD COOKES) over the date of 1729. It is also marked with a Crown over G.R. mid lock for King George II, with the “lock viewers mark” underneath the frizzen. Action is strong and holds at half cock and fired correctly at full cock. The lock is quite clean and in great shape.

It is fully brass mounted with the very early and correct Brown Bess mounts. It is fitted with a wooden ramrod with a brass front tip which matches the musket perfectly but may well be a working life replacement. The musket bears a very attractive stock swell around the brass throat pipe, and retains its unmarked brass escutcheon or thumb plate. Overall length is approximately 62″.

The musket is offered in truly wonderful condition and very closely resembles the well known example in the Colonial Williamsburg Collection, being also by the same maker and even in the same 1729 year. For more information please see the lovely 2010 work The Brown Bess: An Identification Guide and Illustrated Study of Britain’s Most Famous Musket by Erik Goldstein and Stuart C. Mowbray, pages 18 to 29. A wonderful book that has become something of a Brown Bess Bible!

A fantastic example of the rarest of Brown Bess Muskets. Offered in splendid condition and ready to be the center piece of antique firearms collection!

Specifications:

Year of Manufacture: 1729
Caliber: .75″ Musket
Ammunition Type: Lead Ball & Powder
Barrel Length: 46 1/4 inches
Overall Length: 62 inches
Action: Flintlock
Feed System: Muzzle-Loaded

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