A Rare and Absolutely Spectacular, J. & W. Richards, All-Brass Flintlock Blunderbuss With Sprung Top Mounted Bayonet. Finest 'Juglans Regia' Walnut Stock. Circa 1800. Much Favoured by Ship's Captains

Manufactured circa 1810, this is an extremely rare example of a blunderbuss with a sprung loaded bayonet. overall in superb condition for age.

A hugely popular gun used aboard naval ships by their captains in the era of King George IIIrd including the Napoleonic Wars from the days of Admiral Nelson's navy. the rarest of the types used had a spring loaded bayonet that was incredibly effective for use after the blunderbuss had discharged its load against any 'boarders', and to effect the 'coup de gras' {the stroke of grace} to those that are still determinedly putting up a fight against the British ship's captain.

Joseph and William Richards worked at 16 Staining Lane, London, 1808–10 and had retail premises at 62, Strand, London. They also worked as gun and rifle makers at 49 New Street, Birmingham, 1799-1817, from where Joseph carried on alone until 1830. The three-stage round barrel has a flared muzzle and turned moldings. The sprung bayonet is fitted beneath, and the ramrod is housed to left side. The right side of the breech is struck with Tower private proof marks and the maker’s mark. The engraved action is signed “J & W RICHARDS” (left) and “LONDON” (right) and has engraved brass fittings, including the trigger guard with a beautiful pineapple finial. The figured walnut buttstock it mounted with an engraved brass buttplate. The wooden ramrod has a dark horn tip.

The Blunderbuss (born of the Dutch word "Donderbus", appropriately meaning "Thunder Pipe" or "Thunder Gun") came to prominence in the early part of the 18th Century (1701-1800) and was more akin to the modern day shotgun than a "long gun" musket or heavy pistol of the time. As such, she excelled in close-in fighting, be it within the confines of naval warfare or walled nature of the urban environment, such as for protection of a Royal Mail coach, where her spread of shot could inflict maximum damage to targets at close ranges. Its manageable size, coupled with its spread shot, ensured some level of accuracy for even the novice user and its appearance was rather intimidating to those unfortunate enough to be staring down the business end, and the flashing bayonet nicely finished off those that survived the first salvo of shot! As with modern firearms, the Blunderbuss also made for an excellent security-minded weapon and soon found popularity amongst all matter of operators - military, civilian and, of course, criminal parties - by the middle of the 1700s. Even George Washington championed the Blunderbuss for Continental Army "Dragoon" units of the burgeoning American military as opposed to the carbine this being nothing more than a full-featured long gun of lesser overall length, proving suitable for horse-mounted handling. In fact, the short-form version of the Blunderbuss came to be known as the "Dragon", giving rise to the term "Dragoon" for such gun-wielding cavalrymen. Dragoons went on to form specialized units of mounted infantrymen within their respective armies during the end of the 17th Century and into the middle of the 18th Century - in a way, becoming an evolutionary step of the fabled mounted knight of the Middle Ages. Their use of Dragons soon gave way to the widely-accepted carbine musket. The Blunderbuss was also known as the "Blunderbess"

As with all our antique guns no license is required as they are all unrestricted antique collectables

The stock is superb with some edge bruising etc. around the lock.

Code: 26012