The Brown Bess Musket: Everything you wanted to know...With Rob from Britishmuzzleloaders

[@britishmuzzleloaders]

That was fun Chris! Thanks for having me on! Hopefully we can keep this up!

[@redcoathistory]

britishmuzzleloaders thanks Rob - would love to do it again soon! We still need to discuss the Baker! 😃

[@britishmuzzleloaders]

@@redcoathistory Just say the word!

[@BNRmatt]

I would love to see @britishmuzzleloaders do an in depth breakdown of the history and development of the Brown Bess with C&Rsenal.

[@gordonhulcombe9604]

A marvellous presentation, Robert!

[@gordonhulcombe9604]

@@redcoathistory Hello Chris, your work is of an exceptional standard, thank you!

[@dogloversrule8476]

3:22 that poem made me feel patriotic & I’m not even British

[@99IronDuke]

Rob, of britishmuzzleloaders, has a really great YT channel.

[@redcoathistory]

He's the best and a lovely guy.

[@HarryFlashmanVC]

3 cheers for the excellent Rob McKenzie

[@redcoathistory]

He is a great guy!

[@williamkz]

They'll be reading out Kipling in a hundred years when most modern poets will be forgotten. Thanks for you recital!

[@thomaszaccone3960]

I LOVE my Brown Bess. LOVE Kipling. Tommy Atkins is my favorite poem of his but ALL of them are awesome.

[@МихаилЕвдокимов-б4ш]

Kipling- it's really Great!

[@1799to1815]

I keep coming back for the poem. Great narration.

[@bigtrev9043]

One of best collaborations on YT. Cheers Gents

[@dennis2376]

Kipling speaks to me at time and that poem really spoke to me, thank you.

[@redcoathistory]

Dennis 2 thanks a lot / I’m really glad to hear that. He is the best in my opinion.

[@509Gman]

57:00 what Rob is gingerly struggling to describe is best done with Sir Terry Pratchett’s phrase: “ladies of negotiable affection”😁

[@redcoathistory]

😂😂👍🏼

[@myparceltape1169]

Kipling was quite open about where Bess would present her hole. Is this a chemical weapon? Lead.

[@jasonmelius4839]

@britishmuzzleloaders, The various manuals of arms are are instructions for parade ground use and maneuvers. In the French and Indian War and American Rebellion, there are many, many references to aiming, including have men "fire at markes." In Charleston, SC in 1780, regiments practiced firing at barrels anchored at various ranges in the harbor, with the best shots being awarded a guinea. Also, many issued arms that saw active service have dovetails cut into the tangs of the muskets as a rear sight. A Light Infantry Company officer in 1776 remarked that his men, armed with Short Lands, were inflicting more casualties that the American riflemen they were engaged with at 100-150 yards.

[@kevinstreet5709]

Brilliant, thanks Lads

[@earlshaner4441]

Outstanding information everyone

[@christophertalley2687]

Doing a great job about our history

[@californiadreamin8423]

I recall reading that the Dutch troops of King William of Orange , used flintlocks at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.

[@anselmdanker9519]

Thank you, great presentation enjoy both your channel and british muzzle loaders .

[@redcoathistory]

That’s good to hear - thanks a lot. We have another scheduled for early 2021 on the Baker rifle.

[@simonmassey3747]

Great stuff Gentleman most informative and entertaining. Kipling is one of the greatest authors and poets ever especially the evocative Mandalay allways makes me think of the brave Chindits of WW2 and IF which I have on a wall at work. Thank you to you both.

[@redcoathistory]

Simon Massey thanks Simon - yes I’m also a massive Kipling fan. Any chance to get one of his poems into my films is worth taking.

[@FranciscoPreira]

Got love the good old Bess.

[@andrewwebb2241]

Excellent!

[@Sora2529]

Where could you buy one of these?

[@randyhavard6084]

Rob has a great channel and I'll be checking out some more videos from this channel

[@grahamking2239]

Thanks Guys

[@duncanandrews1940]

Wonderful 1½ hours chat which I enjoyed imensley gents. Thank you very much.

[@redcoathistory]

Thanks Duncan!

[@andrewjames5738]

Thanks for this Christian - Rob is such an excellent source of knowledge and information on this type of subject. Many thanks Rob for working with Christian to put this together.

[@redcoathistory]

Thanks - Rob really is amazing. It is always such a pleasure to work with him.

[@michaelcheverie6815]

Great video, thank you both !

[@jlduran444]

The french musket is easier to disassemble the barrel for cleaning. Brown Bess´ pinned barrel is harder to disassemble and gives problems in the future because those pins become loose. But, the french lock is a bit picky with the flint possition as it has a different hit angle, so for me, french musket is easier to clean, but the british musket is more reliable...in my experience.

[@redcoathistory]

Thanks for you insight - appreciate it

[@mitchellline4242]

I cant help but assume that the move from "levelling" the musket in the 1740s to proper aiming in the napoleonic era was due to British experience in the Seven years war and American Revolution. Perhaps an interesting topic for a video by you in the future could be what lessons the British Army learned throughout the American Revolution?

[@shovellord1117]

Fantastic videos my friend, I am incredibly happy to have found your channel!

[@redcoathistory]

That's great thanks so much.

[@noahgibsonspeninsularwarsa1134]

Very nice, I now have no need to wait.😉😉😉 good as always.

[@redcoathistory]

Thanks Noah! I hope you enjoyed the episode.

[@noahgibsonspeninsularwarsa1134]

@@redcoathistory I did.

[@jacobclewlow1190]

This is by far one of my favorite channels 😁 keep up the work Chris !!

[@redcoathistory]

Thanks Jacob!

[@richardcave4343]

Bloody interesting

[@bigrickshaberdashery2759]

Thanks, guys, really enjoyed Rob, and full of information that makes me love my Bess all the more. Keep your powder dry.

[@gracesprocket7340]

From what I can see (though this is by no means exhaustive) the French musquet-ball was around 19 per French Livre, 17.5 per pound. (Brown Bess 14.5 per lb, Baker close to 20 per lb). This is a .65 inch ball so rather higher ball than for English practice. The same was chosen for the Springfield Musket (0.69/.65).

[@classifiedad1]

Not surprising, since the Springfield musket was basically a French 1769 Charleville with "Made in the USA" on the side. Given that the Americans ended up with more Charlevilles' than Brown Bess's due to French military aid, and that you can use .65 caliber balls in any Brown Bess in use with extra wadding, it does make sense.

[@patricklioneljonson2747]

Charleville has something to say about bess. Like how its better in every way accept caliber.

[@richardbouchard1716]

Chris,on another channel there’s a discussion on the Boston Massacre. 7 muskets inflicted 11 casualties (no reload, one volley). Someone posited the Brits used buck and ball. Was that a common load or even uncommon load for Redcoats on sentry duty in 1770?

[@redcoathistory]

Hi Richard I’m not sure about this. I would be surprised if they were loaded with buck but I’m not really an expert on this level of detail. Rob may know.

[@cmbart1]

Late to the party here, but it is related to the Brown Bess being a smooth bore. Know what else is a smooth bore? A shotgun. Buck and ball would be an effective riot control load because it essentially turns that musket into a shotgun.

[@gordonmillar110]

Really good

[@HaNsWiDjAjA]

I would say that there indeed was one advantage that the smaller caliber continental muskets like the Charleville had over the Brown Bess; their smaller caliber. That meant greater economy of powder and lead, lighter ammunition, as well as lighter recoil. The Bess' larger ball theoretically had greater stopping power, but the .64 caliber ball of the Charleville or its other continental cousins should be plenty for just about any occassion. But then again rich Great Britain was never exactly short of powder and lead. In fact its military always had the best gunpowder quality compared to all the European powers, due to the EIC's increasing monopolization of Indian saltpeter production. So it probably did not matter in the end.

[@REALjohnmosesbrowning]

I'll add my personal theory about the origin of the name "Brown Bess". Bess sounds to me an awful lot like the dutch word "bus", meaning pipe, which is also the origination of the english term "blunderbuss" from the dutch "donderbus" meaning "thunder-pipe". I think "brown bess" literally means "plain gun."

[@redcoathistory]

Thank, John - that's great - appreciate that.

[@brianford8493]

Farcking cracking stuff!!!!

[@redcoathistory]

Brian Ford thanks Brian 👍🏼

[@samcoleman5705]

The lock time is incredibly fast. Is the touch hole overly large or is it just that finely tuned?

[@hawkenrifles]

Hi. I really like your videos. I wanted to ask you why the original Brow Bess muskets have a faster lock than reproductions? Even faster than Pedersoli copy. And this taking into account that the muskets do not have a removable vent liner and that they are not primed with 4 FFFF powder. but with the same cartridge (2FF). Saludos desde España.

[@redcoathistory]

hawkenrifles hi there / I’ll be honest I’m not the expert on this - Rob from Britishmuzzleloaders is the man to ask 👍

[@johnpotter4750]

The Bess, I have my own theory based upon a long association with earlier re-enactment with a 5' matchlock 9lb musket (Dutch fish-tail with a blacksmith lock has no trigger weight to speak of !! ), and granted the then occasional use of a two man soldier tent (Sieges) These tents were secured against the element by the same laced match as for firing, and took a goodly minute to exit, time enough for a light fingered loss of your piece before morning parade. So the musket would "join the soldier under his warm wool wrap" and the morning dew on metal,not discommode its instant use in a raid of quarters. I admit I have cuddled my dear matchlock in bed, as well as under my body as I lay dead on the battlefield, both from loss or hurt. I would add my bright metal piece, rusts immediately after rain on the metal/wood interface, and can only be cleaned by complete separation, and brick dust would only please the Sergeant, Sir. (Q: Is it a Period Piece - Don't be silly !) (load = 20 balls/lb, 4 shott on double tap, but mouth is limit and breathing :- )

[@donaldmcmillan512]

Five star 💯💯💯💯💯💯

[@jimcrain5560]

I stopped the video and commented too soon. He finally got there....

[@danschneider9921]

The late Ian Hogg years ago I think (I am paraphrasing slightly) put it best about the name, "Well, you couldn't call it Brown Elizabeth, or Brown Catherine, but Brown Bess, yeah that sounded airtight". I think the origin of the name will be lost to time, and part of the Bess's mystique

[@redcoathistory]

Thanks Dan, that’s great 👍🏼

[@britishamerican4321]

Re: the origins of "Brown Bess," I wonder about the possibility of a bastardization of the Dutch-origin "Blunderbuss" ("Thunder-pipe") term for that short-barreled, large-caliber, flared-muzzle firearm?

[@redcoathistory]

You are the second viewer to mention that so i suspect you may be onto something,

[@AbrahamLincoln4]

You should do some collab with Brandon F.

[@noahgibsonspeninsularwarsa1134]

View halloo Mr. Abe.

[@redcoathistory]

That would be great - maybe one day we can do that.

[@grahamking2239]

I have believe British flints were the best ,

[@chrisnewport7826]

The last time Americans faced this musket was 1898 in the Philippines.

[@robertmalmgren4640]

Rob is out of uniform! He looks like Bucking Billy Ray, not an insult. He is very knowledgeable and I enjoy his videos.

[@redcoathistory]

Yes - I was shocked how much younger he looks when not in his uniform.

[@michaelbrett3749]

I finally got an India pattern and it is beautiful. It is the real thing not a reproduction.

[@anthonyburke5656]

Is the Brown Bess different from the Tower Musket?

[@sagasfromthesea4676]

Tower muskets are muskets marked with insignia of the royal armouries, a form of quality control from about 1800 onwards. So all the Brown Bess muskets proven and issued to British forces from then onwards were also called tower muskets

[@samanyamah-adkins4293]

Thank you, Chris. I'm always worried how much into the source material you guys may be. I love your content, but Kiplin had some really terrible opinions on the subjects of the empire, worse still about it neighbours. As a proud British person, some of the proto-ideas of Kiplin are the best to worship. How do we, take pride in our British identity without acknowledging the bad. It easy to romanticise the past. Fascinating video as always.

[@grahamking2239]

Did the musket become shorter because black powder became efficient?

[@HaNsWiDjAjA]

Probably partially. Also probably because eventually they recognized that shorter guns still worked even in bayonet fight.

[@johndally7994]

The BB stayed in service for so long, I think, because Horse Guards lacked imagination and gumption.

[@DarrenMalin]

Do You Like Kipling? I Don’t Know; I’ve Never Kippled

[@ENIGMAXII2112]

GGRRHHMNNNNnnn........ Waiting for the rain to stop..! Oh how I wish to go off to the range with a date with me First Pattern Brown Bess... Rain, rain, go away. Come back another day...

[@redlemur6073]

Wanna try it al over again? Limey😁🤣 I've got a new 54 like try us😂😜

[@SuperSneakySteve]

The only thing you need to know about the Brown Bess is that the Charleville was better.

[@drill0152]

Eh to each their own

[@grahamking2239]

Soldiers have all. ways called gear after girls , ships are she

[@jimcrain5560]

You got the origin of the name Brown Bess all wrong. The term brown in the 18th century, in this context, meant plain. Bess was a term used for non-descript women just like the Aussies use Sheila. So, Brown Bess means "plain jane". You're welcome.

[@salty4496]

:)

[@philhardy18]

You should get Rob back on , it’s been too long

[@redcoathistory]

Good idea!