How to Fire a Brown Bess 

That's "simply" how it's done.

Very informative, i have been tasked with learning to fire one of these for a big budget movie, and before watching this clip i knew nothing about the brown bess. i especially liked how the camera zoomed in so you could actually see the mechanics, unlike other clips on youtube.

I love the sound the musket makes.

Very interesting. I saw some of this in the Sharpe series also. As a fan of the Napoleonic War period, I have already painted some 1,700 25 mm plastic figures of British, French, Austrian, Russian, and Bavarian soldiers, and still have about 500 to go! Thanks for sharing.

slow and ineffective they were, I found these old muskets strangely beautiful and amusing.

Would the militia members in the american revolution have used a weapon like this? I just got hired on as a military interpreter at an american museum. We'll be doing firing demonstrations with various muskets and cannons. To be honest, I'm excited about my job but also a bit nervous as it involves using weapons around the general public. I just love the idea of teaching kids military history. We'll be building campfires, making tents, running the kids through different drills, letting them help us fire the cannons (that alone scares me a bit!) and in general having a lot of fun with the kids and adults that visit us!

detailed and on the point. This is good! :D

how can u not like this? =P

Very nice!

i love brown bess and also flintlock

Very educational.

THX !

very interesting!

the gun may be old but its still cool:)

Where can I get a brown bess musket and a British redcoat uniform?

Bel video/compliments, it's a very good movie.

Just wondering, here the guys says the musket ball is in the top of the cartridge, which you bite off and hold in your mouth, then 'spit down' the musket ball. I always believed the ball was in the bottom of the cartridge, once you had bitten off the top you held the cartridge by the base to prevent the ball coming out while you primed the pan and poured the powder down the ball. Then you let the ball slip from the cartridge down the ball, followed by the paper. What is the correct way?

Thank you for the vid. I watched this over and over before I bought my first flintlock! People who watch this will have more appreciation for old school marksmanship. PREPARE TO FIRE!!!! POOOOFFFFF!

Yeah that was in the first episode, "Sharpe's Rifles", where are Harper was arrested for mutiny, and got released after saving the flag of Santiago.

In Sharpe's Eagle they train the South Essex to load there musket's without a ramrod by tapping the butt of the gun on the ground, I wonder if that would relly work? I imagine after several shot's the barrel would be caked in powder & the ball would get stuck half-way down.

I think the India pattern Brown Bess is the most handly musket of the Napoleonic period (and the cheapest too), sorry my english.

can anybody help me pls where can i find a hat like this

I say... what regiment is that?

Great explanation of all the steps. Minor point, I don't quite know how the videographer made this happen, but the lock (frizzen, pan, hammer etc.) flips to the gun's left side on firing. How do you flip a video image?

good drill british soldier

I do not know why but I prefer this British Uniform over the one from the 18th century I like the Napoleonic war uniforms the new hats, and pants

Brown bess.....The gun has a very cool name.

What an amazing gun, It would be horrible if you missed even a shot lol.

but that would mean more weight, and trust me when you are marching somewhere around 20 miles in a day, the less you carry, the better.

overall it was a nice informative post. but you ram once , it is not a butter churn!

awesome, but the idea of standing there in the tens of thousands and pooring fire on each other in a some what orderly fashion seems madeness. I wonder how much longer it takes to reload the bess lying on the ground? You should do a clip on that Kevin.