British Brown Bess Pattern 1777 Short Land Musket. Beautiful 1777 Short Land pattern Brown Bess musket. The tower and crown GR look to be engraved. Period of manufacture puts it between 1777-1782. Barrel has “M. Cheshire” engraved on top. Other Brown Bess musket have been noted with stamps like this one. Barrel could be tied to the 22nd Regiment of Foot. Metal locks to have been cleaned with pinprick pitting and has a gray patina. “12” is marked on the trigger guard. Unable to make out the marking on the thumb escutcheon. Stock shows handling and usage wear. Repair is noted on the right side. Small separation in the wood is noted in front of the lock plate. In The Brown Bess book, by Erik Goldstein and Stuart Mowbray it says, “the Pattern 1777 must be counted as a British weapon of the War of Independence until proven otherwise… However Revolutionary War service to any particular example remains problematical.” Really neat piece of history!