British percussion carbine

Marcus den toom · 16th October 2013, 11:15 AM

I recently bought this converted percussion carbine at a French auction. It is covered with english proofmarks, as well as the makers name Blair inside the lock.

The name Blair is mostlikly that of David Blair form Birmingham, the rightside of the buttsttock has a crown with a arrow pointing down to the date 1805.
The lock has Tower, a crown, GR and a arrow on it. The inside has the name Blair (the R is very faint), HS and 22 with a crown like M. The lock has a safety slide (still working).
The leftside, near the breech there are the number 45, S and G with a crown on top.
The leftside of the buttstock has the number 1211 on it and 4 small holes forming a rectangular shape where there used to be a plaque of some kind.
Th breech has been cutdown and replaced with a screw on percussion mount, but there are some faint markings of the original flintlock barrel (crossed swords with a crown above and a arrow ??).
The barrel is only 40,5 cm (16inch) long, the ramrod seems original and untempered with.

My question is, what kind of carbine is this? What did it look like before it was converted etc. What was its use (couch gun, naval etc?)

16th October 2013, 11:15 AM	#1
Marcus den toom Member Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Netherlands Posts: 525	British percussion carbine I recently bought this converted percussion carbine at a French auction. It is covered with english proofmarks, as well as the makers name Blair inside the lock. The name Blair is mostlikly that of David Blair form Birmingham, the rightside of the buttsttock has a crown with a arrow pointing down to the date 1805. The lock has Tower, a crown, GR and a arrow on it. The inside has the name Blair (the R is very faint), HS and 22 with a crown like M. The lock has a safety slide (still working). The leftside, near the breech there are the number 45, S and G with a crown on top. The leftside of the buttstock has the number 1211 on it and 4 small holes forming a rectangular shape where there used to be a plaque of some kind. Th breech has been cutdown and replaced with a screw on percussion mount, but there are some faint markings of the original flintlock barrel (crossed swords with a crown above and a arrow ??). The barrel is only 40,5 cm (16inch) long, the ramrod seems original and untempered with. My question is, what kind of carbine is this? What did it look like before it was converted etc. What was its use (couch gun, naval etc?)