Flintlock butt plate

[empyreal]

Wondering if anyone has seen a butt plate like this before. It's quite heavy and ornate. Thanks in advance for any help!

 

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[kuger]

I wonder whats under the applied "cap",on this one?
Hand-Gun | Pistol Lebrun Flintlock Silver Cap & Rings

very interesting!

 

[kuger]

I would almost bet the one in that link is what yours had.The round screw hole was to hole the cap to the gun butt,and the rectangle slot was the means of attaching the applique

 

[empyreal]

Yes, I think so, so it covered the screw and had a tab that went through the slot. Somebody told me the cover could have been a scary face called a "grotesque."

 

[kuger]

Yes, I think so, so it covered the screw and had a tab that went through the slot. Somebody told me the cover could have been a scary face called a "grotesque."

looking at the many Google Search Images,I would say that is completely Plausible!!!

 

[empyreal]

I need to go back and look some more!

 

[kuger]

Yes!!Dig Iron!

Ya know out of the half dozen or so butt caps I have dug,I dont recall ever finding the rest of the gun?

 

[empyreal]

You have to wonder how the butt plate got ripped off the gun.

Any way to discern time period? Or is there a good reference for flintlock hardware it might be found in?

 

[kuger]

Thats a question I dont have an answer too....much like early brass trigger guards there are an infinite number of styles and types,that range at least 200 years

 

[empyreal]

Okay, that's good to know. Thanks!

 

[BosnMate]

You have to wonder how the butt plate got ripped off the gun.

Any way to discern time period? Or is there a good reference for flintlock hardware it might be found in?

OK, I'll lite up your imagination. The flintlock pistol was a single shot muzzle loader, once fired, slow to load. Compared to modern pistols, the flintlock, shooting a heavy round ball out of a short barrel with a less than rifle or musket charge of black powder meant it was also very underpowered by today's standards. So shooting someone with one of those pistols was many times not instant death, but left a fellow that was still able to fight back, at least until he bled out. So shooting an enemy with that type of pistol was not a done deal, and they were also smooth bore, so hitting your target at more than just a few feet was also a problem. So it behooved them to have a back up for the pistol, which in some cases might have been another pistol. However, that heavy brass or silver, and even on some military pistols iron butt was for use when the gun was reversed and used as a club. Using the pistol as a club would put a might handy dent in the adversaries skull, and would probably put his lights out much quicker that the random pistol shot, unless the ball hit an absolutely fatal spot, like between the eyes, which was unlikely. Now, if one will think just a bit further, seeing as how the shape of the pistol, the grain of the wood makes the weakest part of the stock the grip area behind the trigger guard. So you get in a clubbing match with a drunk, and hit him just as hard as you can right on his noggin, and the stock is busted, and the butt goes flying. Better yet, say your horseback, and adversary takes his shot and misses, you shoot back and miss, he starts running away, you ride him down, and as you pass by, the pistol is used as a club to the back of his head, the guy dives nose first into the dirt and stays there, the butt of the gun goes flying and is lost for more than 200 years when a fellow comes a "tectin'," and finds it and wonders, where's the rest of the gun. Unless the gun was converted to cap lock, the pistols with those type of butt decorations seem to have all been flintlocks, the cap locks seemed to become much less decorated and more utilitarian, with more and more even being rifled, so my swag as to age would be before 1840, most likely mid to late 1700's. There are a number of books on flintlock pistols/firearms, and my suggestion would be to do a search on Amazon.

 

[BosnMate]

I left out something. Those pistols were large, heavy and awkward to wear on the person, which doesn't mean they weren't, but many times a brace of them were carried one on each side of the pommel of the saddle, hence they were called, "horse pistols." So my imagined story of riding the guy down carries some weight, simply because of how they were many times if not most of the time carried.

 

[empyreal]

Thanks BosnMate! That's a vivid account! The coolest part of all this is to try to imagine the story behind the object. I think it had to be flintlock as we found a smallish lock plate nearby, and a powder flask cap.