Belgian Flintlock Blunderbuss with Unusual Conversion, Early 19th C

Description

The 19^th C saw history’s greatest and fastest advances in weaponry; from muzzle-loading flintlocks at the beginning of the century to fully automatic belt-fed machine guns by the century’s end. This Belgian blunderbuss shows one of the early advancements, beginning its life as a traditional flintlock, but featuring a very unusual, yet surprisingly simple, conversion to percussion. It retains its original swan-neck cock, pan, frizzen, and frizzen spring. Instead of a flint inserted in the hammer’s jaws, it has an inserted hammer head for striking against a percussion cap. The flash pan has a machined cap covering it with an inserted percussion nipple. The end of this cap has a hole bored in it, presumably for insertion of priming powder, since the percussion nipple is located some distance from the main charge. Lock plate stamped with crown over “ON”. Steel 12 1/4” (31 cm) barrel with flared muzzle, stamped with Liege proof at the breech. Walnut full stock with brass trigger guard and butt plate; iron sling swivels and old adjustable leather sling. Lacking ramrod. In more than 25 years of business we have never seen a percussion conversion even resembling this, with none of its original parts removed or replaced. Overall length 26 1/2” (67.3 cm).