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Brown Bess Flintlock Musket
File:S262b.jpg
Modern reproduction Brown Bess Carbine - .75 caliber
The British Long Land Pattern musket, nicknamed the "Brown Bess", was a smoothbore flintlock musket that was standard-issue with the British Army throughout the 18th and early 19th centuries, including the French and Indian / 7 Years War, the American War of Independence and the Napoleonic Wars.
For the purposes of this page, "Brown Bess" refers collectively to any of the British Land Pattern Muskets of 1722-1883, which include the Long Land Pattern, Short Land Pattern, Sea Service Pattern, India Pattern, New Land Pattern and New Light Infantry Land Pattern Cavalry Carbine.
N.B. Virtually all Brown Bess Flintlock Muskets seen in films or television productions are modern reproductions, due to historical specimens being highly expensive and unsafe to fire due to age- or conservation-related concerns.
Specifications
- Weight: 10.5 pounds (4.8 kg)
- Length: 58.5 inches (1,490 mm)
- Barrel length: 42 inches (1,100 mm)
- Cartridge: 0.71 inches (18 mm) lead ball, undersized to reduce the effects of powder fouling.
- Caliber: 0.75 inches (19 mm)
- Capacity: 1
- Action: Flintlock
- Rate of fire: User-dependent; usually 2-3 rounds a minute
- Muzzle velocity: Variable
- Effective range: Variable (50-100 yards)
- Feed system: Muzzle-loaded
- Fire Modes: Single Shot
The Brown Bess Flintlock Musket and variants can be seen in the following films, television series, video games, and anime used by the following actors:
Film
| Title | Actor | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jánošík | Brigands | 1921 | ||
| Treasure Island (Ostrov sokrovishch) | Irish rebels | 1937 | ||
| Blackbeard, the Pirate | Don House | Soldier | 1952 | |
| Chuck Roberson | Soldier | |||
| British soldiers | ||||
| The Spessart Inn | Ralf Wolter | Brigand | 1958 | |
| The Devil's Disciple | Burt Lancaster | Rev. Anthony Anderson | 1959 | |
| George Rose | British sergeant | |||
| British soldiers, rebels | ||||
| Kidnapped | British soldiers, Assassin | 1960 | ||
| Burn! | British soldiers | 1969 | ||
| Apaches (Apachen) | Johnson's men, Mexican soldiers and townsmen | 1973 | ||
| Blazing Saddles | Two Arabian Bad Guys | 1974 | ||
| The Duellists | French soldiers | 1975 | ||
| Barry Lyndon | Ryan O'Neal | Redmont Barry | 1975 | |
| British and Prussian soldiers | ||||
| Blue Bird (Blauvogel) | Kurt Böwe | John Ruster | 1979 | |
| Jan Spitzer | Andrew | |||
| Gheorghe Patru | Raccoon | |||
| British and French soldiers, settlers, Iroquois warriors | ||||
| Trail of the Pink Panther | Seen in Clouseau's apartment | 1982 | ||
| The Bounty | Richard Graham | Mills | 1984 | |
| British soldiers and seamen | ||||
| Revolution | Al Pacino | Tom Dobb | 1985 | |
| Donald Sutherland | Sgt. Maj. Peasy | |||
| British troops | ||||
| The Mission | Liam Neeson | Fielding | 1986 | |
| Spanish and Portuguese soldiers | ||||
| Shipwrecked | Pirates | 1990 | ||
| Journey of Honor | Kane Kosugi | Yorimune | 1991 | |
| Shô Kosugi | Daigoro Mayeda | |||
| Norman Lloyd | Father Vasco | |||
| Spanish and Japanese soldiers | ||||
| The Last of the Mohicans | Russell Means | Chingachgook | 1992 | |
| Eric Schweig | Uncas | |||
| Wes Studi | Magua | |||
| British and French infantry, Hurons and Mohicans | ||||
| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III | Walker's men | 1993 | ||
| Red Rock West | Seen in Sheriff Wayne's office | 1993 | ||
| Kidnapped | Don Wycherley | Rory | 1995 | |
| Brian McGrath | James Stewart of The Glen | |||
| James men and women, British soldiers | ||||
| Get Shorty | Men dressed as Revolutionary War soldiers | 1995 | ||
| Cutthroat Island | Geena Davis | Morgan Adams | 1995 | |
| Stan Shaw | Glaspool | |||
| Rex Linn | Blair | |||
| English soldiers | ||||
| Rob Roy | Tim Roth | Archibald Cunningham | 1995 | |
| Highland Regiment | ||||
| Bad Moon | Sherpa guides | 1996 | ||
| Amistad | Royal Marines | 1997 | ||
| Almost Heroes | Bokeem Woodbine | Jonah | 1998 | |
| American soldiers | ||||
| The Mask of Zorro | Mexican soldiers | 1998 | ||
| Hornblower: The Even Chance | Robert Lindsay | Captain Edward Pellew | 1998 | |
| Royal Marines | ||||
| Hornblower: The Examination for Lieutenant | Ioan Gruffudd | Acting Lieutenant Horatio Hornblower | 1998 | |
| Paul Copley | Matthews | |||
| Royal Marines | ||||
| Hornblower: The Duchess and the Devil | Royal Navy seamen | 1999 | ||
| Hornblower: The Frogs and the Lobsters | British and French Royalist soldiers | 1999 | ||
| Sleepy Hollow | Mark Spalding | Jonathan Masbath | 1999 | |
| Marc Pickering | Young Masbath | |||
| Casper Van Dien | Brom Van Brunt | |||
| Soldiers | ||||
| Anna and the King | Randall Duk Kim | General Alak | 1999 | |
| Soldiers | ||||
| Plunkett and Macleane | Thief-takers | 1999 | ||
| The Patriot | British soldiers | 2000 | ||
| Tiger Head (Cabeza de Tigre) | Argentinean revolutionary soldiers | 2001 | ||
| Hornblower: Mutiny | Royal Marines | 2001 | ||
| Hornblower: Retribution | Gilly Gilchrist | Randall | 2001 | |
| Royal Marines, Royal Navy seamen, rebelling Spanish prisoners | ||||
| Hornblower: Loyalty | Greg Wise | Major Côtard | 2003 | |
| Royal Marines | ||||
| Hornblower: Duty | Royal Marines | 2003 | ||
| Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World | Chris Larkin | Captain Howard | 2003 | |
| British Marines | ||||
| Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl | Orlando Bloom | Will Turner | 2003 | |
| Keira Knightley | Elizabeth Swann | |||
| British soldiers and pirates | ||||
| Fanfan la Tulipe | French and British soldiers | 2003 | ||
| Bell Witch Haunting | Doug Moore | John Bell | 2004 | |
| Asa Wiggins | Richard Bell | |||
| The Alamo | The Mexican Army | 2004 | ||
| The Legend of Zorro | Soldiers, McGivens' men | 2005 | ||
| An American Haunting | Donald Sutherland | John Bell | 2005 | |
| Thom Fell | John Bell Jr. | |||
| James D'Arcy | Richard Powell | |||
| Oliver Twist | Policemen | 2005 | ||
| Pirates of Treasure Island | Seen on the wall | 2006 | ||
| Alatriste | Eduardo Noriega | Conde de Guadalmedina | 2006 | |
| Simon Cohen | King Philip IV of Spain | |||
| Goya's Ghosts | Stellan Skarsgård | Francisco Goya | 2006 | |
| Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest | British soldiers | 2006 | ||
| The Sovereign's Servant (Sluga Gosudarev) | Nikolay Chindyaykin | The Inn owner | 2007 | |
| Aleksey Chadov | Angie | |||
| Swedish and Russian soldiers | ||||
| My Name Is Bruce | A townsman | 2007 | ||
| Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End | East India Trading Company soldiers | 2007 | ||
| The Young Victoria | British soldiers | 2009 | ||
| Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides | Johnny Depp | Jack Sparrow | 2011 | |
| British soldiers | ||||
| 47 Ronin | Keanu Reeves | Kai | 2013 | |
| Dutch sailors | ||||
| Hot Tub Time Machine 2 | Rob Corddry | Lou Dorchen | 2015 | |
| In the Heart of the Sea | Chris Hemsworth | Owen Chase | 2015 | |
| Cillian Murphy | Matthew Joy | |||
| The Revenant | Domhnall Gleeson | Andrew Henry | Carbine | 2015 |
| Leonardo DiCaprio | Hugh Glass | |||
| Pride and Prejudice and Zombies | Douglas Booth | Mr. Bingley | 2016 | |
| British soldiers | ||||
| Black '47 | Barry Keoghan | Private Hobson | Percussion Cap | 2018 |
| James Frecheville | Martin Feeney | Carbine | ||
| Hugo Weaving | Hannah | |||
| Irish Police | ||||
| British soldiers | Percussion Cap | |||
| Journey to China: The Mystery of Iron Mask | Russian soldiers | 2019 | ||
| Prey | French trappers | Anachronistic | 2022 |
Television
| Show Title | Actor | Character | Note / Episode | Air Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jamaica Inn | Soldiers, wreckers | 1983 | ||
| The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries | Seen in weapon collection; "A Man Lay Dead" (S01E01) | 1993 | ||
| Sharpe's Rifles | British Army soldiers | 1993 | ||
| Sharpe's Enemy | British Army soldiers | 1994 | ||
| Sharpe's Company | British Army soldiers | 1994 | ||
| The Adventures of Swiss Family Robinson | Kieren Hutchison | Ernst Robinson | 1998 | |
| Richard Thomas | David Robinson | |||
| Margo Gunn | Elizabeth Robinson | |||
| Junior Chile | Billy | |||
| K.C. Kelly | Jed Parsons | |||
| Gareth Howells | Ben Thomas | |||
| Blackbeard | British marines, soldiers and pirates | 2006 | ||
| Lock 'n Load With R. Lee Ermey | Gunny | 2009 | ||
| Sleepy Hollow | 2013 | |||
| Salem | W.M. Bacon | soldier | "The Vow" (S1E01) | 2014 |
| Michael Sieve | soldier | "Ashes to Ashes" (S1E12) | ||
| Michael P Gardner | vigilant | "All Fall Down" (S1E13) | ||
| soldiers, prison guards, guardians vigilantes | ||||
| Black Sails | Shaun Acker | Mr Beauclerk | (S01E05) | 2014-2015 |
| Two men of the Scarborough | (S01E01) | |||
| Hakeem Kae-Kazim | Mr. Scott | |||
| Walrus crewmember | ||||
| Turn: Washington's Spies - Season 1 | Seth Numrich | Ben Tallmadge | (S1E03) | 2014 |
| British and Continental Army soldiers | ||||
| Turn: Washington's Spies - Season 2 | Samuel Roukin | Capt. John Simcoe | (S2E06) | 2015 |
| British, Hessian, and Continental Army soldiers | ||||
| Turn: Washington's Spies - Season 3 | Samuel Roukin | Capt. John Simcoe | (S3E03) | 2016 |
| Seth Numrich | Ben Tallmadge | (S3E08) | ||
| British, Hessian, and Continental Army soldiers | ||||
| Salem | Shane West | Captain John Alden | 2016-2017 | |
| Emily Skeggs | Billy | |||
| Owen Harn | Militia Leader | "After the Fall" (S3E01) | ||
| Perry Hinson | Militia Man | "After the Fall" (S3E01) | ||
| Soldiers, Militia | ||||
| Turn: Washington's Spies - Season 4 | Aldis Hodge | Akinbode | (S4E03) | 2017 |
| Jamie Bell | Abraham Woodhull | (S4E06, E07, E08) | ||
| British, Hessian, and Continental Army soldiers | ||||
| Taboo | Tom Hardy | James Keziah Delaney | 2017 | |
| Always a Witch (Siempre Bruja) - Season 2 | Spanish soldiers | "Someone Like Me" (S2E01) | 2020 |
Video Games
| Game Title | Appears as | Mods | Notation | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Civilization IV | 2005 | |||
| Assassin's Creed III | 2012 | |||
| Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag | 2013 | |||
| Grand Theft Auto V | Pistol Grip | 2013 | ||
| Assassin's Creed Rogue | 2013 | |||
| Assassin's Creed Unity | 2014 | |||
| Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades | "Brown Bess" | 2016 |
Animation
| Title | Characters | Notation | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Treasure Island | Pirates | 1988 | |
| Love, Death & Robots - Season 1 | seen stuck in the jelly; "Alternate Histories" (S1E17) | 2019 |
Anime
| Film Title | Character | Note | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Le Chevalier D'Eon | British soldiers | Long Land Pattern version | 2006 |
| Ghost Slayers Ayashi | Mexican soldiers | 2006-2007 | |
| Puella Magi Madoka Magica | Mami Tomoe | 2011 | |
| Date A Bullet | Kurumi Tokisaki | 2020 |