British Pattern 1760 Light Infantry Carbine Marked to the 52nd Regiment of Foot, c. 1757, .67 caliber, walnut stock with a storekeeper's stamp on the right side of the butt as well as the remnants of "WT/V" in the ramrod channel, brass fittings with the escutcheon engraved "52/1/3," lock marked "HASKINS/1757," with a crown over "GR" and an ordnance stamp, the barrel has light proof marks on the breech, and a wooden ramrod with a bone tip, barrel lg. 42, overall lg. 57 5/8 in.
Provenance: The Thomas Reiley collection; the Bill Ahearn collection.
Literature: Illustrated and described in Merril Lindsay, The New England Gun (New Haven: The New Haven Colony Historical Society, 1975), pp. 42-43; Don Carrol, "The Brown Bess Musket-Regimentally Marked," The Gun Report (January 1990); Bill Ahearn, "British Longarms at Lexington," Man At Arms (April 1998); Bill Ahearn, Muskets of the Revolution and French & Indian Wars (Lincoln, RI: Andrew Mowbray Publishers, 2005), pp. 74-77; Don Hagist and Erik Goldstein, "Short Land Muskets for the British Light Infantry in America," Man at Arms (December 2009); and Bill Ahearn and Robert Nittolo, British Military Long Arms in Colonial America (Pittsburgh, PA: Dorrance, 2018), pp. 328-31.
Estimate $8,000-12,000
Stock has a few dings and nicks, the brass fittings have some patination, and the lock functions properly.
The absence of a condition statement does not imply that the lot is in perfect condition or completely free from wear and tear, imperfections or the effects of aging. Condition requests can be obtained via email (lot inquiry button) or by telephone to the appropriate gallery location (Boston/617.350.5400 or Marlborough/508.970.3000). Any condition statement given, as a courtesy to a client, is only an opinion and should not be treated as a statement of fact. Skinner Inc. shall have no responsibility for any error or omission.