🥇 BANNER 1700s Flintlock with silver side plate!

[SC Keith]

Got out to an early site with my buddy and we shallow water hunted the muck and mud. The finds were sparse with just a flat button and part of a pocket knife when I got a large iron signal that turned out to be this surprise!
When I picked up the clump of iron, I noticed the side plate which I thought was brass, but turned out to be solid cast silver! The flint was still fused into the hammer. Still stoked about this cool find! Thanks for looking

 

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[Joe-Dirt]

Wow, that’s awesome!!! That rifle must have been a fine looking weapon and pricy for its day. Well done sir

 

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[Relicific]

Awesome find
Congrats

 

[Digger RJ]

Very Nice!!! Congrats!!!

 

[cheffer]

Wow, talk about once in a lifetime find. Amazing, congratulations on your banner

 

[Silver Tree Chaser]

Congrats on making a tremendous find and banner. I'm glad to hear that you have the pistol soaking in water for an electrolysis setup. Such a find is deserving of time and effort toward conservation. The silver side plate makes this a truly exceptional weapon. The story behind the loss of this weapon on the shore is quite something to contemplate! Incredible!: notworthy:

 

[Gene Mean]

What a find! Congrats on another off the charts banner find!

 

[tlf67]

Very cool finds indeed.

 

[Donnie B from VA]

Very nice indeed!

 

[SC Keith]

Here is the load and cloth that I carefully removed the the flintlock’s barrel. I hope someone will know if this load was intended for big game like deer or was this a load to use in wartime. This will be very informative!

 

[Theakiki]

That's supercool Big congrats!

 

[Discrimination Dave]

We can assume this was found in South Carolina, SC Keith?
Amazing. Would like to see a pic of that flint imbedded in there.

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Very nice find Keith, congrats on achieving BANNER #4!

Dave

 

[Rege-PA]

The load you retrieved from the bbl matches the load frequently mentioned in French & Indian and Revolutionary war texts.
That being a "single ball with 6 or 7 smaller buck shot", was preferred over a single ball, which had more killing power, due to its weight but might not strike the target. The addition of 6 or 7 "Buck Shot" gave a greater chance of inflicting a disabling wound.
The additional weight from the "Buck Shot" would insure a better powder burn but in some cases stressed the firearm.
Can you tell me the order of the balls and how much they weighed. I suspect the larger ball was loaded first with the "Buck Shot" on top, over which was placed a thin wad to hold in place. Kudos to you for learning all that you can from the bbl.

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Beautiful piece of history!

 

[Locke]

That’s a beautiful piece! Congrats.

 

[SC Keith]

Update to thread!!!! I have returned to the location and got lucky by finding the trigger guard to this flintlock!!
Here is the trigger guard before and after cleaning. The hallmark dates piece to 1774. Made in London by John King.

 

[Georgivs]

Can't wait for you to find that butplate, its like a mini series in the making!

 

[Discrimination Dave]

Holy feces.
this is one of the five or six posts I’ve come across on here in the last ten years that I never forget.

 

[Rege-PA]

Truly amazing find and persistence on your part. How far from the bbl was the trigger guard found? There is still the Ram rod thimbles, possible ram rod end caps, wedge pin and the estuchiens on either side. As mentioned by others a possible
pistol grip end cap and the ram rod nose cap. On the top of the grip there may have been an oval plate with initials or a name. You might have to get down to digging and washing the dirt to find some of the smaller pins. I hope you find much more of it.
The pistol may be British but the load and the crude oblong main slug suggests a Patriot was in poession when lost.

 

[watercolor]

WOW!!
Your Banner recoveries are something I'll never forget. This is one of the best posts I've seen since I joined TNet.

There is a gentleman (Lewis Drake, in Kentucky I believe) that specializes in antique arms that may be able to shed some light on the firearm maker based on John King's silverwork. I did see a flintlock pistol set that was sold by him earlier this year that featured similar work by silversmith, John King. (I would post photo examples but they are copyrighted).

Again, I congratulate you on these STELLAR recoveries and hope you recover more of John King's work.

All the best,
Mark