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Enormous sniper musket


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I was at Big Island Rendezvous in Albert Lea, MN last weekend, and saw this amazing original firearm:

PICT0869.jpg

It's hard to get an idea of scale in this photo. It is roughly 150% the size of a brown bess, and close to 5 feet long.

There was usually a large crowd around it, so I was only able to eavesdrop on the owner's description.

He said it was a sniper's musket, circa 1820, of the type used by both American & British forces on land and at sea. It requires one man to load the charge and another to aim and fire. They fired three small - (for this gun, 95 grains is small) - rounds, missing their target at 200 yards all three times.

Quite an impressive firearm!

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Its also called a "Wall Gun" or "Rampart Gun" and placed in a yoke and mounted to defend fortified positions.

On a ship though, any swivel mounted gun with a wooden shoulder stock is usually reffered to as an "espingole" (which include the blunderbuss types).

If you want one, you can get a parts kit from "The Rifle Shoppe"

http://www.therifleshoppe.com/complete_parts_sets.htm

They also have a French Wall Gun (#717) for $1495 and a Dutch Wall Gun (#718) for $1495 too.

These prices are for kit only... you still need to put it together.

GoF

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http://www.gentlemenoffortune.com/

Where you will find lots of information on building your authentic Pirate Impression!

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Not surprised they missed with that small of a load in it. The ball would just peter out after a bit without more poop behind it.

But wow, what a firearm!!!

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"There is a letter on record that Washington had a few wall guns made up that were capable of hitting a sheet of common writing paper at 600 yards". Crazy!

"Without caffine, I'd have no personality at all"

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