Both my wife and I do F & I Wars reenactment (78th Fraser Highlanders). We use our old faithful Indian made copies (yes, I know how “badly made” they supposedly are). My first pattern was excellent, and my wife 2nd land pattern, is probably one of the best firearms we have ever owned! It shoots perfectly every time. The big thing for us is that we religiously clean our besses after every event. I personally think that makes a huge difference.

I was taught that the first thing you did when reloading a muzzle loader was to blow down the barrel to extinguish any burning embers from the last chargers. Otherwise, you could put powder down a barrel onto burning embers. The safe way is to run a wet patch down the barrel to extinguish any burning embers and always hold the ram rod in your fingers when reloading a muzzle loader -never put it in the palm of your hand because a new powder chargers could go off sending the ram rod through your hand.

190. Saw this one already, but of course I always enjoy watching them again.

Love this type of video Peter. Well done.

Peter, thank you for another great video! Chock full of historical information. I'll never tire of watching. If that old musket could talk, it would thank you for a great job.

The best part of your channel are the ‘wee bit of history’ stories you tell!

That Brown Bess looks Great Peter! Isn’t it fun to restore something in need of some TLC? I may have mention in the past that I restored an 1829 N. Starr Middleton Conn. 69 cal, Army issue musket. It was an 1816 model which is basically a Brown Bess. It was converted to percussion in the 1840s but I do wish it was still a flintlock. It was used in the Civil War but since it was found in an old house being torn down in Delaware, it’s possible to have been used by either side but most likely by the Union, I’ve been told. It had been found I. A closet by a 10 year old girl who’d asked if she could keep it. This was 100 years ago and found by my friend’s Mother. I was commissioned to restore it,, bent barrel and all. Perhaps a wagon ran over it or was used for a club? Who knows? But with some wooden wedges in the wooden vice of my old workbench I bent it back quite easily. After restoration it became an historical show and tell piece for me and my friend was moving into a house being built. After a few years they said, you’re having so much fun with that gun, would you like to buy it? I said, is the blue bird blue? Is a 500 lb. Robin heavy? I had my gunsmith friend inspect the bore and after cleaning he pronounced it good. My first shot was done with 30 grains, then 40, then 50 and then 80 grains, which is what I usually use. I have the original ramrod and bayonet and with it attached measures 6’2” and weighs 10 lbs with bayonet attached. To think of marching 29-30 miles in a day, with a 30-60 lb. pack, wool uniform with long Johns underneath on a hot humid day? HOLY MOLY. The average soldier on both sides averaged 5’8” tall and 140 lbs. So the soldier had a rough life, to say the least. And then those Minnie ice age winters in the 18th century? WOW! What else can you say? That’s right, I was talking about my 1829 musket, which is basically a Brown Bess, although the metal looks like your Bess there. And bear grease is a fine preservative indeed! I my research I read that the government commissioned 5 gun manufactors to produce 14,500 muskets at that time, N. Starr being one. Harpers Ferry and three others, the price was approx. $14 a piece. Walnut stock but no brass except for a small piece used when converted to percussion and a very heavily spriged lock! Takes a manly pull to cock that hammer! If I ever find an original flintlock, I’d Love to bring it back to 1829! Thanks So Much Peter, you did a Great job bringing Bess back to full Health! Many Blessings! DaveyJO in Pennsylvania

Thank you as always for a wonderful video. My wife just bought me a new Pedersoli brown Bess this year and then I picked up a Harpers Ferry musket Patton, 1822

Looks like she works quite nicely. It was a lot of fun to watch. Thank you.

I run with a New Land Pattern Light Infantry Musket; it upped the sight game by adding a notch at the end of the barrel to line up with the lug on the front for sighting the musket. The first musket I used was a long land pattern (on loan), and it was a beast that often would chuck flints until I figured out it preferred leather instead of lead holding the flint, and I've only used leather since. My best memory is at the 200th of Waterloo, cleaning my musket in full view of the public using as many period-appropriate tools as possible. And explaining everything I did to a lovely group from the Netherlands, Belgium and Texas. Lovely work on getting your long land back to fighting condition.

Excellent refurbishing job Peter! You'd certainly pass inspection if you were in my line. Well done. Former Serjeant Pinn - 49th Regiment of Foot. Cheers!

Great video, Peter! I shoot/collect flintlock rifles, and found your work with the Brown Bess particularly interesting. Thanks!

Thanks again Peter. I truly look forward, all week to your upload. This one was particularly enjoyable to me.

The musket looks great after you worked on it! The Brown Bess looks like it would be fun to shoot!

I watched this video last week, and then on Sunday, I went to an Antique Arms show. There was a rather neglected Pedersoli Brown Bess on a table, at a very good price, so it followed me home. I completely disassembled it, and cleaned it well, doing pretty much the same things as you did-it's a beautiful, gleaming musket now. It does take some BIG flints!

Thanks for an interesting video, I have a Brown Bess carbine for display, used to own a Baker smooth bore for re-enactment. Black powder shooting is amazing.

Beautiful restoration. Excellent works as always. Love the slo mo at the end.

I had the opportunity to do War of 1812 living history at the time of the bicentennial. We did a march as American troops with Springfield muskets, they were quite heavy. Our counterparts were British Royal Marines with the Brown Bess, they were very sharp looking.

Nice demonstration of rolling live cartridges! I don't do that much as a reenactor. They do have alot more kick with a live round. When I get up there I'd like to see how accurate those Bess's are!

You're a wealth of information, Peter. Thank you.

Hello from Wisconsin! Thank you for your knowledge, you have taught me stuff that will help me with my Brown Bess, WaDo!

Love your videos, I've watched them all. Just FYI, the recorded volume appears to be pretty low, I have to crank it up to hear it. Thanks!

Hey Peter, always nice to see others that are willing to give a 2nd chance to arms like that Pedersoli, just because it's a replica, & not even a completely accurate one, doesn't mean it should be cast aside when it's not working properly. Thank you for sharing. Side note. You may already be familiar with his channel, but there's a channel called paper cartridges that may interest you, & he may even have some historical data on military loads etc. Have a Great day Buddy.

Another great video thanks for sharing.

Thank you . Nice front stuffer!

Good afternoon from Syracuse NY USA brother and everyone else and I am getting a brown bess muzzleloader for Christmas present

My Lordie, My small viewing screen has exploded with what makes my heart and mind go into wild! I’m drifting back and forth between your words, the King’s gun, the woodwork all around, and all the skills that have been acquired. 😵‍💫♥️🎉 New sub

As always very informative content. I think that you had a good time restoring it as well as firing it. By the way it looks and sounds amazing!!!

Great info Peter and the ol musket turned out great looking. Proud Dublin Castle long land shooter here :)

When you said "I sure wish I had my glasses" made me realize we are of the same brotherhood. Good video, I have a a 1795 Springfield replica. I always enjoy a video about such arms.

Excellent video. Thank you. I did not know about the stock dimensional differences.

Enjoyed your video. I have the same make and model Brown Bess, of about the same age, too. Got it new back when they cost just $650! It's been neglected for a while now, but your video got me to go haul it out, dust it off and give it a good look. Now I'm motivated to get it back into good shooting condition!

Thank you again for the history lesson. I enjoy every lesson about our past that you do.

That was cool! I remember back in about 1977 me and my high school buddy both wanted a Brown Bess! We never did get one.

Beautiful to watch and I learnt a lot! Many thanks 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Nice firearm you have there Peter and a we bit of history about this Brown Bess is amazing how many were produced that i would have never have guessed, maybe you can revile its accuracy in the next video

Thanks for another great video Peter! Being a Flintlock builder this was right up my alley. Nice work on cleaning up that old musket!

Great episode. I learn something new every time. Keep up the great work Peter and Cathy.

While metal detecting in western Pennsylvania I found a 1st model Brown Bess side plate. I had to buy a reproduction to put it on. I fell in love hugging the ol’ Brown Bess. What a fun and interesting weapon.

I had one and it was the most accurate smoothbore I have owned. I shot a bare ball .735 over 100 gr. 2F no patching of any kind. She was dead on. I could hit a paper plate at 100 yards, no problem. When hunting or carrying it in the field I used a paper cartridge with a .710 ball loaded the same as you showed. Same accuracy. The only problem I had it destroyed flints. Didn’t get many shots out of my flints. Great video!

And when the Smoke Cleared! Beautiful job Peter, naming the parts and hearing the History, real nice restoration.

I used to use 100 grains in my .50 caliber Hawken with the 370 grain Maciball.

It's interesting! Did you film the restoration process..? If so it could be an opportunity for a 3 or 4 part series showing all the details. Thanks for the video...

Thanks for the Brown Bess overview. I knew about paper cartridges but now I've seen one being rolled!

Great work Peter!

Wow! What an awesome weapon. I just recently stumbled upon this channel and thoroughly enjoy these videos! I love history, and you do such a good job explaining and demonstrating what is going on in your videos. Thank you so much for doing this and can’t wait for the next one!

Hi, Peter. Another fine video, I have never fired a Musket but would not shy away from trying it.

Great lesson, and I do love the blackpowder rifles. I have a St. Louis Hawken 50 caliber percussion kit coming for my husband for Christmas. He can build while winter goes by. Shhh. 🤫

Thank you for sharing this information in your video my friend

Nice work Peter! I have an heirloom of the same rifle. I’ve redone mine as well. It’s a wee bit of history indeed!! Thank you!!

Very interesting video. Grat history of the brown bess. Never knew how to dismantle a black powder. Also, I didn't know you did three videos. Keep your powder dry

Peter, I've used Corrosionx to protect my tools and firearms for twenty-five years. It sinks into the metal molecularly, not lay on top of metals and build up. It's also a dielectric which would help protect the brass to steel fitment on your gun's parts. They have a interesting website also. Nice job on the rifle, it looks great.

Hearing how much that gun weighs and seeing how hard it kicks makes me appreciate my Northwest trade gun all the more. Thanks for sharing this.

Men have all wase modified thare kit to personalized it make it easier to use and carry so cutting down the stock or reshaping it for the surroundings.

Another nice video!

Phenomenal video with a great information and a stunning backdrop Thank you for making this!

Another enjoyable video. The Brown Bess name history and hearing about the spring tension issues are answers and issues that most of us will never hear about. I've been to many reenactments, and I wondered what some guns sputter or don't go off at all. I like the slow-motion firing at the end. Was this gun a kit from years ago?

Another great video Peter. I just got finished building a Pedersoli Brown Bess. I am very familiar with the work you are doing.

Great video ... Gun came out nice!

British army also used leather hammer stalls to prevent sparks prematurely firing, I would recommend that as a precaution loading the military way

My good men I love your channel and all the things you show us in every video. Also really likes how you show your love for history. I have to say that the paper cartridge is wrap in the wrong direction. Everything is ok but the place you roll the .690" ball is from the 90° angle in the paper (the corner where the 5 1/2" and 6" meet) and wrap to the long side angle (the corner where 6" and 6 3/4" join together) That way you have more paper around the ball and less in the end where you bite on it, also is a longer cartridge for the powder charge. Thank you for all the things you do and greetings from Buenos Aires (Argentina)

The bayonet lug is referred to as “the sight” in the British manuals of the period

Excellent work! I did something similar with an India made 1740 Naval Musket. Bought it in a bag as the stock was in 2 pieces. Got it at a sale of a passed reenactor. Not to speak ill, but I bet it was never cleaned. Took a good bit of elbow grease, but shoots well now.

My reenactment unit does a really good job of maintaining our Muskets, I’ve seen a lot of muskets that are just terribly maintained in other units, it’s a big investment you better believe I’m cleaning it at the end of every day when it’s been fired. Barrels bright, brass polished. Have to look smart. How else will the french and indians know we are coming for them?

I just built a traditions hawken St. Louis rifle kit it is a percussion rifle it is a lot different from a Brown Bess but still a cool rifle

Your videos are always super informative. Could you do a video on in depth traditional ways of annealing and heat treating and tempering what to look for on the blade, and the color to get the stee,l and does it differ between a small knife and a big knife? And is it different if you are doing a dagger style knife or a tomahawk? I guess I'm just wondering the in depth step by step process. Again thank you for everything that you do.

At the mid west musket frolic in 1986 in Defiance Mo we had to defend a wall, shooting as many shots as we could in three minutes and forty five second. After the shoot Ted Spring, the author of F and I war sketch books, who was judging the shoot. Showed off. In that he got twenty one shots off, eleven seconds per shot He was shooting a cut down bess

Hi Peter, you’ve got me wanting some kind of flintlock rifle now. Also I like the place where you choose to do your repairs at. Love your cabin. Good to see you. (Old guy from Arkansas)🇺🇸

Excellent, as usual! I want to know if that Brown Bess charge template is available anywhere online? Thanks!

Another great video. May I ask what do you and Cathy do for Christmas

I have a woodturning hobby. Love the bowl you use to put in small parts so they do not mysteriously vanish. Do you do wood turning as well as all your other skills?

Thanks for another great video! Would you ever consider going after a moose with the Bess? I picked up a Pedersoli Brown Bess Carbine a while back but, sadly, haven't gotten around to shooting it yet. The percussion Great Plains Rifle is still my designated moose muzzleloader until I can see what I can hit with the Bess (scored nothing but "moosetrack stew" with the rifle so far.) I made a pattern for cutting paper cartridges out of sheet aluminum and plan to try that. Have to really watch the conditions around here as I've heard that shooting paper wadding off in the woods when it's dry is a no-no.

From what I can see, it passes intial inspection. Will have to give a closer inspection when I visit in April.

Well Peter as always you and Cathy have done a great video. That would have been weird not having a powder horn hanging on your side. I suppose the troops on each side would have been carrying these types rounds. But for the farmers and mountain men that were recruited where carrying rifles/squirrel guns and there own round balls powder horns and patching material. Also the smoothie like the brown bess where sought after you didnt have use lead balls you pick up a hand full of rocks from a creek down the barrel and shoot away 😂 a rifle you cant do that with. Great video be safe keep your powder dry. IIByrds

We name war ships after people long after they die. So its not a stretch for the musket to be named after the queen. Every tradition starts somewhere

Appreciate your efforts and dedication! Back when I traveled a lot and did various reeactments, a friend would make paper stacks bound with masking tape in rectangular form. These would then be cut on a bandsaw on the diagonal with one cut producing hundreds of cartridges at a time. As a smoothbore enthusiast do you have any experience or references to bending a barrel for sighting it in? Thanks again and keep your powder dry!

Very interesting video about the Brown Bess rifle. One question though. Did the paper cartridge go down the barrel after the powder?

peter,would you happen to know the approximate velosity of a brown bess ball. ..thank you .

What a great looking Bess it turned out to be! I was hoping to see you do a little lock work. Maybe one day you'll do a video on that. BTW< what flew off of the musket in that slow motion shot? Did you lose your flint??

Think I'd rather 'not' have known the particulars of the name; 'Brown Bess'! YIKES! 2 C allllllll the high craftsmanship needed 2 put these parts together, just 2 blow a man 2 pieces...is quite bizare. Sad 2 'need' a 'resolve' of this kind. In any case, I thank U good Peter an' dear Catherine 4 your time/talents shared. U suuuuure know how 2 refurbish = much time, expertise, an' elbow grease or is it 'bear grease' U were using? LOL! Watched 'The War Room' yesterday, U would have enjoyed it as they were going through the history of the 'Pilgrims of Thanksgiving' = Fascinating stuff! They spoke of; 'Squanto' and his AMAZING talents and assistance 2 the 'Whites'. WHAT a GIFT of a man, 4 'precisely' the time he was needed. A godsend indeed! "Self-denial and self-discipline, however, will B recognized as the outstanding qualities of a good soldier." (William Lyon McKenzie King). Health and blessings dear ones! :)

Hi Peter. Love your tutorial. I was just wondering how far you were from your target, and how accurate your final shots were?

I love renovating old guns and using muzzleloaders has taught me a lot about history and a lot about hunting. Nice to know that the Italian Besses hold up well too.

One comment, I believe the musket manufacturer might be Pedersoli, not Petroseli or whatever you said. Anyway, great video.

10.4#, that was the weight of the US Rifle, M-14, which I toted in the Corps back when. Interesting.

Forgot to say that I roll my cartridge with the point on the left so it slopes down to the right. That gives a even top and bottom edge and also has a good mark to fold the top quicker.

My Short Land Pattern Musket is about 30 years old.I clean and polish after every reenactment and it's not as shiny as that. My bayonet is though.

Well done video folks, from a time when the sun never sets on the British flag

Nice rebuild…..even though I can’t see it shining in the sun. 🙂 I don’t know why you keep mentioning that it’s 30 yrs old though. I have a 70 and 90 yr old Mausers, a 113 yr old Winchester 1894, a 95 yr old SxS, and another SxS that’s at least 120yrs old, and they’re all in awesome shape. Shoot amazingly well. But that .69 calibre ball is huge! Any idea the grains, and speed they were going?

Howdy Peter Nice story ... and I did not think I was going to learn anything today ...LOL Have you ever seen a real Brown Bess ? What was the oldest original rife you have seen or yeld or even shot ? Do not know much about the old ones but really like to see them .

Nice job Peter. If you get a chance please talk about gun straps. Were they used by civilians? Were they common? I don’t like carrying a rife in hand. would it be anachronistic to put a strap on my WoodsRunner?

It makes more sense to me that big as it is, especially for those days, the "Brown Bess" is a reference to a cow and not a woman of the profession. No need to use "brown" with Bess if that was the case. But to each his own as they say. Also, I believe that manufacturing, even if standardized for those days, would not be as stringent as today, and could easily produce variations. Maybe Pedersoli copied an original with a longer grip or your friend simply hasn't seen a large enough sample?

Fast lock time 👍 I us rendered animal fat on my paper cartridges as it doesn’t effect the powder

I have a weapon that looks very similar to the Bess but it is cap .. the barrel has been shortened. Would you have any idea of what I might have

That was good! My paper cartridge is more of a rectangle! I'm going to copy yours! I did try 120gr once! My shoulder hurt for a week! But I got the raccoon! Do you need any pig fat for your pepperetts ? I'll have some left over from the pig !

104 pounds. That is not wavy. A lot of M1 Garands weighed more than that and the M14 weighed about the same as the Brown Bess, so 11.4 pounds is not heavy for a wood stocked firearm. Any of them are better than the Mouse Gun - the M16 or its derivatives.

Why 100gfff or gff down the barrel?

Thanks Mr. Peter, I believe that shot fell down in 'ol Mexico.

But Peter, did ye hit anythin'? (Or did this end like the brass swivel gun volley?) What with polishing the weaponry and rolling cartridges, there must not have been much free time in camp.

What does burnishing the barrel mean , how do you execute that?

Your paper for your paper cartridges should be soaked inpotassium nitrate and then dried before wrapping.