Loyalist Arms 1738 British Sea Service Musket?

[Timber Rattler]

Hey, does anyone have experience with the Loyalist Arms British 1738 Sea Service Musket?

http://www.loyalistarms.freeservers.com/britishseaservicemusket1778model.html
I inquired to Loyalist Arms about purchasing one but the company is out of stock so I was placed on a waiting list. I'm developing FIW Maryland Militia and early RevWar (1776-1778) 8th Virginia Continental impressions and like the musket's history, no-frills toughness, and practicality. After Braddock's defeat in 1755, some 500 were shipped from naval stores in New York to Virginia in order to re-equip the Virginia Regiment, which had lost all its muskets during that rout and ensuing retreat. A few of the Sea Service muskets apparently found their way to Fort Frederick in Maryland, where a hammer and pieces of the lock were discovered during archaeological digs there.

So what are the good, the bad, and the ugly concerning this model musket from current and previous owners?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Loyalist Dave]

So not an owner but a past user.

The musket will be heavier than something made in America due to the wood they use for the stock....,
It will be very shiny, and you will need to take the sheen off the metal parts.
The pan has an unbridled frizzen, so the entire impact of the flint on the frizzen is taken up by the frizzen screw.
It has a woodern rammer, and no ability to take a bayonet.
There is no sideplate so you have to be mindful of tightening the lock screws.

So the question would be would the Marylanders or did the New Yorkers, adapt the stock to accept a bayonet?
Are you planning on Japanning the hardware and barrel, black, as some sea service muskets were done?
Otherwise that should be a good shooter. LA locks are known to spark well.

LD

 

[Timber Rattler]

Thanks for the feedback, Dave!

I'm OK with the heavy weight of the firelock due to the Teak stock. I was looking for something heavy duty anyway and will have no problem carrying it. And I don't anticipate firing but a few live rounds through it since I'm going to mainly use it for FIW/early Rev War living history.

Apparently, British Armorers, under orders from the Board of Ordnance after 1752, did in fact cut off four inches of stock around the muzzle to accept bayonets, the Army living and dying by them. But I'm OK with the long muzzle-length stock since I'm not interested in messing around with a bayonet, being the casual "backcountry militiaman" with no desire to cross bayonets with French Marines, or later, British Regulars.

As luck would have it, Blair and Linda Higgins at Loyalist Arms in Halifax found the last remaining musket in their storage area yesterday, stashed away in a dark corner, and sold it to me over the phone. Very nice people! Blair said that they were currently overrun with orders and have a very large backlog of about 40 ahead of me before they can put mine together, so it'll take about 8 weeks for delivery. I'm OK with that since I won't need the musket until next year. I instructed Blair to paint the stock black and to stamp the lock with 'FARMER 1745'. He doesn't have the staff right now to blue the barrel and other shiny parts, so I'll get a local gunsmith to do that for me, or else do it myself when I have time over the winter. I'm aware of 'japanning,' like "japanned" tin buttons, but is there a modern process for doing that with gun parts?

Just found this interesting article:

From Bright Steel to Brown: The Colour of British Musket Barrels, 1755-1865

Bright Steel to Brown: British Musket Barrels, 1757-1865

Of interest:

However the 102nd was far from the first to carry browned or "black" muskets in the British service. Over 50 years earlier in 1757 a less expensive brown bess was introduced for Marine and Militia service that was not required to be polished. The finish for these muskets was referred to as "black" (likely japanned). British issue rifles from the first in 1776 seemed to have been always browned. The regulations for the Experimental Rifle Corps (later 95th Regiment) in 1803 cautioned its men about not injuring the browning. This echoed in Barber's work in 1803: "The outside of the barrel should never be rubbed with anything than can impair the brown." But did regular regiments brown their muskets prior to 1812? The American Revolution had brought a number of innovations and improvements to the British Army. One area that saw a lot of activity was Light Infantry. Each regular regiment had a light company attached to it. It appears that these light companies were issued with black or browned muskets was early as 1787. In an inspection return of the 38th Regiment of that year under the category "arms" it was noted : "the Light Infantry Company have the new black barrels."

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Thanks for the feedback, Dave!
I'm aware of 'japanning,' like "japanned" tin buttons, but is there a modern process for doing that with gun parts?

Black Rustoleum if you aren't going to use an authentic recipe. Japanning ends up with a "semi-gloss" so I'd suggest that you mix some gloss with some flat, until you get the desired result. Some guys prefer the "high heat" Rustoleum as its a barbeque paint, and when the barrel gets hot it will not have a problem.

LD

 

[Timber Rattler]

Black Rustoleum if you aren't going to use an authentic recipe. Japanning ends up with a "semi-gloss" so I'd suggest that you mix some gloss with some flat, until you get the desired result. Some guys prefer the "high heat" Rustoleum as its a barbeque paint, and when the barrel gets hot it will not have a problem.

LD

I had no idea that musket parts could be painted like this with Rustoleum instead of regular blueing. I guess we learn something every day! Are the lock and trigger painted/darkened too on the Sea Service muskets, or are they left bright?

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I had no idea that musket parts could be painted like this with Rustoleum instead of regular blueing. I guess we learn something every day! Are the lock and trigger painted/darkened too on the Sea Service muskets, or are they left bright?

I think the locks were left uncolored. The trigger, sure, it's rust preventative.

LD