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French 'Navy' Blunderbuss

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Dave Wallis

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I recently bought a small collection of Blunderbusses and the odd one out was a very heavy steel barreled weapon, which had me wondering exactly what it was,
After some online research, I found out what the gun was derived from, but still have no other details of its manufacture.
It would appear that the main parts of the gun are French M1777 Rifle : Lock (altered to percussion), Stock (somewhat shortened), Trigger and Trigger guard. The hammer looks very British (Enfield?) as does the barrel band (no markings on either). The barrel would appear to be of original manufacture, the wall thickness at the muzzle, being too great for a modified M1777 barrel.
The lock says; Mre Rle de Tulle, Tulle being the centre of Arms production for the Frech Navy since 1691. A good friend suggested that it may have been modified to a Blunderbuss in the U.S at around the time of the Civil war, as many M1777s were shipped to the Americas and altered to the percussion system.
Any suggestions?? Thank you
 

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Nice piece! All I know is that IMA says Mre. Rle. de Tulle in French is interpreted as "Manufactured at the Royal arsenal at TULLE".

I'd pull tbe barrel and look for proofs. But with that heavy cock ... I'd say it was built as a percussion arm.
 
Nice piece! All I know is that IMA says Mre. Rle. de Tulle in French is interpreted as "Manufactured at the Royal arsenal at TULLE".

I'd pull tbe barrel and look for proofs. But with that heavy cock ... I'd say it was built as a percussion arm.
 

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