Images(10)

British Wall Gun

Date1760-1770

Maker Joseph Grice

OriginEngland, Birmingham

MediumWalnut, iron, steel and brass

DimensionsOverall: 66 1/4" Barrel: 48 3/16" Bore: About 1" Buttstock: 7" x 3" Lockplate: 8 7/8 x 1 5/8"

Credit LineGift of Dick Braddock

Object number2017-254

DescriptionBritish wall gun of standard form with brass mounts, steel rammer and plain flat lock. Period iron strap repairs to the wrist.
Label TextAlso called an amusette, a wall gun was a very large and heavy firearm which fell somewhere in between a regular musket and a small piece of artillery. They were used aboard ship or along the walls of a fort (thus the name), and had to be mounted with a heavy iron swivel. Wall guns fired a very large lead ball, of about 1 inch in diameter, over great distances, making them useful for fixed position anti-personnel use. Only two of Rappahannock Forge’s examples have survived to tell the story of the only industrially-produced American wall guns of the Revolution.

This British-made example descended in the Braddock family of Somers Point, New Jersey, a seaport town dating to the late 17th century. It is believed this wall gun was imported into the colonies before the Revolution, and saw many years of hard service afterwards. It is an extremely rare firearm, and is also one of the few wall guns with a known 18th century American provenance.

MarkingsLock engraved "GRICE" under the pan. The mark of John Whately (a six-pointed star over IW) is struck under the barrel near the breech.
ProvenanceDescended in the Braddock family of Somers Point, New Jersey.