Rare Blunderbuss with folding bayonet

Marcus den toom · 2nd January 2014, 05:56 PM

A few days before christmass i contacted the seller of this rare blunderbuss, it will arrive next Monday (because of all the holiday madness, humbug

)
Anyway, i saw the thing and immediately was intrigued by it. Usually you see these blunderbusses fitted with a bayonet on top of the barrel. some of them have a bayonet underneath the barrel. This one and only this one, as far as my research shows, has the bayonet on the right side of the barrel. It is "locked" into place by the dog/hammer. The seller said the bayonet was 6mm to short for it to be locked into place, but i noticed that the dog has a sickle shape which has broken off at some point in its life. When the dog is cocked, it will hold the bayonet in place. When fired, the bayonet will swing forward (a rather dangerous contraption i think).

The woodwork and brass is very well made, much attention for detail and also the correct stylistical features. This blunderbuss was made by (William) Ketland&co in the late 18th century (1790's), the counter plate for the lock is of typical Ketland design.
The barrel has British proofs, but is also heavily corroded as is the first part of the bayonet.

I am still figuring out for myself if i should do something about the corroded metal (maybe try and hammer it more flat) but i am not fond of messing with these unique things. I will try to find a good restorer though for the dog, it should be repaired (it has a small crack and the sickle shape should be replaced).

A whole lot of words, but the truth is.. i have no clue about blunderbusses, it looked rare but i noticed some forum members with a whole lot more experience with blunderbusses so please, enlighten me

2nd January 2014, 05:56 PM	#1
Marcus den toom Member Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Netherlands Posts: 525	Rare Blunderbuss with folding bayonet A few days before christmass i contacted the seller of this rare blunderbuss, it will arrive next Monday (because of all the holiday madness, humbug ) Anyway, i saw the thing and immediately was intrigued by it. Usually you see these blunderbusses fitted with a bayonet on top of the barrel. some of them have a bayonet underneath the barrel. This one and only this one, as far as my research shows, has the bayonet on the right side of the barrel. It is "locked" into place by the dog/hammer. The seller said the bayonet was 6mm to short for it to be locked into place, but i noticed that the dog has a sickle shape which has broken off at some point in its life. When the dog is cocked, it will hold the bayonet in place. When fired, the bayonet will swing forward (a rather dangerous contraption i think). The woodwork and brass is very well made, much attention for detail and also the correct stylistical features. This blunderbuss was made by (William) Ketland&co in the late 18th century (1790's), the counter plate for the lock is of typical Ketland design. The barrel has British proofs, but is also heavily corroded as is the first part of the bayonet. I am still figuring out for myself if i should do something about the corroded metal (maybe try and hammer it more flat) but i am not fond of messing with these unique things. I will try to find a good restorer though for the dog, it should be repaired (it has a small crack and the sickle shape should be replaced). A whole lot of words, but the truth is.. i have no clue about blunderbusses, it looked rare but i noticed some forum members with a whole lot more experience with blunderbusses so please, enlighten me