Japaneese Brown Bess

[FelixD]

I just acquired a Japanesse Brown Bess for a very reasonable price. No maker or importer is marked. I remember that years ago Japaneese BBs were sold by Dixie. Does anyone have more information on them? This appears well made, the lock sparks and the condition is excellent. But, it does not seem to fit any pattern Brown Bess that I have seen. It does not have any provision for sling swivels. Thanks in advance.

 

[thomas]

I have one myself & like it & shoot it alot. They were made by Miroku, mine is mixed parts too, well maded & when I pull the trigger it always go's off.

Thomas

 

[Swampman]

It is a Short Land Pattern or 2nd Model Brown Bess. I have one and I really like it. I think they are better looking than the Italian Brown Bess replicas.

 

[Wes/Tex]

The above notes explain the manufacturer of the Japanese made muskets. You'll find that none of the commercial Besses really match originals. If you'd like a good source of info on the many types of the four major Bess types, I'd recommend finding a copy of "Red Coats and Brown Bess". It shows the fine details of the various types of guns made through the 18th and early 19th century. Good luck.

 

[Swampman]

My Japanese Bess looks almost exactly like this original Short Land Pattern.
[url] http://www.angelfire.com/vt/milsurp/slbess.html[/url]

 

[rschissler]

My Japanese Bess looks almost exactly like this original Short Land Pattern.

You say almost. So where does it differ?

 

[fluggies4]

I have one of the Japanese Bess's as well, and it fires every time. I've never had any problems with it. Mine does have sling swivels, but another same musket owned by a friend of mine has never had them. It is a simple matter to install them, as there is already a lug on the underside of the barrell, and the trigger guard can be drilled for the rear one. If you look closely in the ramrod channel, you should be able to see the forward swivel lug, although the stock is not drilled.
The muskets are well made, and we use ours both in competitions and reenactments.

 

[Swampman]

"Where does it differ"

The original muskets were hand built by a bunch of sleazy government contractors. They had pattern guns, but tried to cheat when they could. No two are alike. The differences are so subtle that few would even notice them. The sideplate is ever so slightly different. Mine isn't drilled for sling swivels. There are litteraly thousands of subtle differences in the originals. You could find more varation between two originals than this original and my repo.

 

[Swampman]

I spent several hours removing excess wood along the barrel and reshaping my musket today. It looks really good. I put some Dangler's Dark Brown Stain on it so I could see if I need to do some more sanding. One of the barrel lugs wasn't attached to the barrel and I'm gonna find someone to solder that back on. This is the second musket I've dissasembled that had a lug loose. One had 2 loose lugs. You might want to check yours.

 

[Wes/Tex]

Got me there! Sorry I couldn't get back sooner. That's a nice, so-called "Type 1", Short Land Pattern. If the repos are now that well modeled, I'm impressed. The original is the first variation (1769-1775) without the strengthened or later "Pratt's Improvement" second ramrod pipe. It is spot-on for frizzen, cock, trefoil frizzen spring, etc. If yours looks just like that, I'm truly jealous!! :bow:

 

[CrackStock]

Gee after looking at those pics, I feel a lot better about my Mil. Her. Bess. Looks pretty good to me and if I get motivated, I can do some wood removal to make it event better.

CS

 

[benvenuto]

Summary of Brown Bess Models by Neumann

 

[Swampman]

Thanks for the great link!

Mark