British Table Musket

[Blueliner67]

This past weekend I attended a Revolutionary War re-enactment and they had a "British Table Musket" is what they called it. I've never heard of this type of firearm ever.

It's a 100 caliber flintlock smoothbore. It is so heavy the soldiers carried it on a table with a hole in it. When they were ready to deploy it, the table would be tipped up and the muzzle put through the he and fired. The actors said it took 300 to 400 grains of B/P to fire.

Anyone ever seen or heard of this?

Here are some pics.

 

[3Setters]

That will throw some serious lead

 

[smoothshooter]

I think they were more commonly known as a Rampart Gun.

 

[Tumbledown]

Seems to me the whole table affair would be more cumbersome than just carrying the gun, and the table itself would offer no protection against any regular musket.

 

[Stantheman86]

I think they were more commonly known as a Rampart Gun.

That's what it is, or a "Wall Gun" as I've seen them called.

Washington loved these things, and apparently they could hit a piece of paper at 300 yards.

 

[Grenadier1758]

That firearm has several names. Rampart gun, wall gun. We call our gun a Long Range Musket. It is a supporting arm to be serviced by the artillary troops. Its purpose was to provide a long range cover for the Canon crews.

As far as hitting a piece of paper, well, it could have happened. A few were rifled, but most were smooth bored of 4 balls to the pound (1.00 inch bore).

 

[Musket69]

There is one on display at Dixie Gunworks an the tv show Pawn Stars has an episode with one... I would really like one...

 

[toot]

I have one that is a 75, cal. rifle, a RED PAINTED BROWN BESS. F&I period, and yes it is what was called a RAMPART WALL GUN. I shoot 300- 400 grains of 1-FG. black in it. HOLD ON !!

 

[TobJohn]

Here is a cool video of one firing:

This type of firearm has its roots in the hook guns of the late medieval to early modern era. In the 30 years war era (and before), oversized musket would have hooks at the front to stabilize themselves on ramparts and provide longer range fire power. They could almost be viewed as the anti material rifle of their day.

German examples: Double Hackbut on Carriage Mount
German example in German (You can see the similarity to the muskets of the era): Doppelhaken, Suhl um 1630

Guns of this type would remain popular in India and China through the 19th century.

For the flintlock versions, the Rifle Shoppe sells kits, if you are really itching for your own.

 

[mhb]

IIRC, the wall/rampart guns that Washington liked were rifled pieces made at the Rapahannock Forge - some of them still exist, and I've seen at least one at the Smithsonian some years ago.

mhb - MIke

 

[toot]

mine was made by TERRY BARLO, in MAINE, 30+ yrs ago. I don't shoot it very much as a pound of black powder has approx.. 1000 grs. so a pound / can doesn't go far! mine shoots 12 gauge hollow base slugs in 2 inch groups at 100+ yards. after showing off to the guys at live fire shoots, I let them have at it, and I am the best thing since SLICED BREAD!

 

[TobJohn]

IIRC, the wall/rampart guns that Washington liked were rifled pieces made at the Rapahannock Forge - some of them still exist, and I've seen at least one at the Smithsonian some years ago.

mhb - MIke

I could not find a picture of it in their digital collection, but I did find this rad fella: Cooper Flintlock Swivel Gun | Smithsonian Institution

 

[1971fx]

Stoeger arms .90 caliber smoothbore

 

[Feltwad]

Better known has a Rampart Gun bore size were mostly a 4 bore or a 2 bore with different barrel lengths. They were used on the ramparts with some smoothbore and some rifled. The smaller ones were also used on the Man of War ship they were 4bore rifle and used for blasting out the enemy ships rigging enclosed are a couple of images of such a one
Feltwad

 

[david w]

Stoeger arms .90 caliber smoothbore

For shooting jeeps?

 

[Grenadier1758]

These certainly are impressive. We did normally shoot ours from a stand, but the recoil even from blank rounds would break the stand apart. The unit then built a proper wheeled cart that converted into the firing stand. This has held up.

I found an old link to some pictures that I had posted on the Forum.

https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/from-the-fort-in-st-augua.131800/#post-1832514

 

[TFoley]

mine was made by TERRY BARLO, in MAINE, 30+ yrs ago. I don't shoot it very much as a pound of black powder has approx.. 1000 grs. so a pound / can doesn't go far! mine shoots 12 gauge hollow base slugs in 2 inch groups at 100+ yards. after showing off to the guys at live fire shoots, I let them have at it, and I am the best thing since SLICED BREAD!

A pound of powder is 7000 gr, not 1000.

 

[1971fx]

For shooting jeeps?

 

[david w]

A pound of powder is 7000 gr, not 1000.

a 1,000 gr. charge = 7 shots per pound.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

This past weekend I attended a Revolutionary War re-enactment and they had a "British Table Musket" is what they called it. I've never heard of this type of firearm ever.

It's a 100 caliber flintlock smoothbore. It is so heavy the soldiers carried it on a table with a hole in it. When they were ready to deploy it, the table would be tipped up and the muzzle put through the he and fired. The actors said it took 300 to 400 grains of B/P to fire.

Anyone ever seen or heard of this?

Here are some pics.

I LOVE to see their documentation that they were called "table muskets"..., since all I've read they were called an Amusette, and were deployed on the flanks of larger artillery batteries, to prevent the guns from being overrun.

LD