Musket butt ?

fishing47

Full Member
Joined
Nov 28, 2013
Messages
174
Location
masschusetts
Any help with this to identify item and maker's name would be great... hhhh 031.jpg

hhhh 030.jpg
 
No. That's not a musket butt plate. That's a clothes-pin . Any other questions ? :?:

But seriously now : Hard to tell from your picture, but if the left hand side , in that 2nd picture, has a "cup" shape to it, then it could be a gun butt plate. If you search google images, and look at a wide variety, you will begin to see what I mean by "cup shaped" at one end.
 
If you rub flour over the makers mark, it should accentuate the letters so you can read them better. It looks like Burtali to me, but very hard to read it. Really cool relic!
 
The hole pattern makes me think not. Butt plates are most commonly 2 screws centered in the plate. But I did find a pic that supports this one.

looks more home made but cant say it isnt one.
 

Attachments

  • butt plate.jpg
    butt plate.jpg
    33.1 KB · Views: 409
cccc 007.jpg

cccc 005.jpg This is one I found a while back. Looks like it had a design or something.. Thank you all for taking the time out to comment with info..
 
The hole pattern makes me think not. Butt plates are most commonly 2 screws centered in the plate. But I did find a pic that supports this one.

looks more home made but cant say it isnt one.
That is awesome thank you. I wonder what the notches are meant to stand for on the musket..
 
Yes, this is without question a butt plate. Various different countries nailed their butt plates on. This was done on early arms as well as on trade arms. Cheap, easy method of holding it on. Allowed for a thinner plate to be used to save metal.
 
All butt plates I've seen have 2 vertical screws. Don't believe that's a butt plate.

Sent from my LM-X320 using Tapatalk
 
There are plenty of examples of butt plates made in this manner.
 

Attachments

  • 20211013_224216.jpg
    20211013_224216.jpg
    20 KB · Views: 256
  • 20211013_224238.jpg
    20211013_224238.jpg
    28.5 KB · Views: 246
  • 20211013_224656.jpg
    20211013_224656.jpg
    29.3 KB · Views: 267
NOT saying this isn't a butt plate, but WHY would someone stamp their makers mark on the inside of the plate???
could be the top broke and they had to pry it off from the top making the edge curve outwards...who knows
Makers mark would then be on the outside


purely guessing dont ya know
 
NOT saying this isn't a butt plate, but WHY would someone stamp their makers mark on the inside of the plate???

I am glad you asked that question as it addresses the way a firearm, particularly military firearms were made back in the day. On most arms all parts were inspected prior to assembly to check for and correct any flaws in the work. For the barrel you will have a "view" (they looked at it) and "prove" mark (meaning they fired the barrel with way more than a normal load to make sure it wouldn't blow up under prolonged normal use). On the locks every individual piece will have a mark and the lock plate will have the full name often.. Small parts got just a stamp. Big parts often got the full name of the inspector. It is not at all uncommon to find full names inside a butt plate. You can also find initials or just a mark (for instance the French will use a crown above a single letter).
 
I am glad you asked that question as it addresses the way a firearm, particularly military firearms were made back in the day. On most arms all parts were inspected prior to assembly to check for and correct any flaws in the work. For the barrel you will have a "view" (they looked at it) and "prove" mark (meaning they fired the barrel with way more than a normal load to make sure it wouldn't blow up under prolonged normal use). On the locks every individual piece will have a mark and the lock plate will have the full name often.. Small parts got just a stamp. Big parts often got the full name of the inspector. It is not at all uncommon to find full names inside a butt plate. You can also find initials or just a mark (for instance the French will use a crown above a single letter).
Thanks for sharing your expertise! So, the name etched on the inside of a butt plate is more likely to be the name of the inspector, not the manufacturer?
 
Thanks for sharing your expertise! So, the name etched on the inside of a butt plate is more likely to be the name of the inspector, not the manufacturer?

Yes, it is the name of the inspector, not the manufacturer. It gets complicated when dealing with arsenal pieces. For instance to look at a French musket from St Etienne arsenal you will find on pre 1763 muskets the chief inspector's mark, Ie Jourjon, R. Carrier, etc. These folks are high up in the organization and while they inspected guns they also designed and produced guns so in some cases you will have an all of the above kind of situation. This is particular for locks and barrels. You will have a stock inspector to make sure the wood is decent and you will have a part inspector. The butt plate is stamped by the part inspector. Other parts would likely have a specific mark for them or initials.
 
Back
Top Bottom