The Solid Silver Butt Plate for the Flintlock has been Found and it’s Beautiful!!

[SC Keith]

The flintlock site has just given up the part I wanted to find most of all! I was able to return to the swampy area where an old causeway crossed during the 1700s, and finally recover the butt plate that I had hoped would be there. I had begun to think that it would remain hidden from me forever, and I would always wonder if it was inscribed or what it’s motif would look like. Now I know!

John King was one of London’s finest silversmiths when he made this flintlock rifle butt plate in 1774 as indicated by the hallmark information on the plate. King was supplying his silver gun mounts to the finest gunmakers in Europe during the second half of the 18th century. Thanks for coming along with me here on my hunts to recover the Revolutionary War era silver flintlock!!
Keith

 

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[Terry Soloman]

Simply AWESOME!

 

[watercolor]

WOW, WOW, WOW! You did it, I'm so happy for you.
I wish I could have been there to witness you recovering that butt plate. . . I don't know what to say, it's beyond words

 

[Kray Gelder]

Wow! Speechless. Congrats!

 

[smokeythecat]

Go look for the rammer guides, THEN find a gunsmith to make a complete gun with your parts. Not the iron ones of course.

 

[ironhorse]

getting so much closer....another great episode!
just a few pieces left now, we're all pulling for you pulling out those missing bits and seeing it all there!
Keep at it...I know you're going to do it!

 

[Gene Mean]

WOW! Congrats on the beautiful piece! Amazing and sharp detail. History there.

 

[Locke]

That’s a beautiful work of art, a truly once in a lifetime find!

 

[lairmo]

Awesome...

 

[Wildcat1750]

YIKES!!! I've been following all of your posts and I am so happy you found the part that ties it all together!

 

[Silver Tree Chaser]

"And he rounds third base with a fantastic silver escutcheon; now he's running for home plate - here's the throw, here's the slide, I think he's going to find it, and he does! He makes it to home with an awesome solid silver butt plate! And the T-Net fans go crazy!!!!!" There's no hiding from you! Huge Congrats. I'm sure you would be going to Disney World if it wasn't shut down due to COVID-19!

 

[JeffInMass]

Nothing short of amazing- CONGRATS!

 

[sandchip]

That’s a beautiful work of art, a truly once in a lifetime find!

Probably a once in everybody's lifetimes! Wow. I'm just left at a loss for words sufficient. I agree with Smokey. It would be well worth the investment to find the most renown gunsmith and the finest piece of walnut to see a a firearm worthy of those silver pieces of art.

 

[jewelerguy]

oh wow that's beautiful. congrats on finding all the pieces

 

[UnderMiner]

That's better than things I've seen displayed in museums.

 

[fyrffytr1]

That is awesome. You should post all the pieces to this gun in one thread. I, for one would like to see them together.

 

[Erik in NJ]

Extremely thrilled for you Keith on such a spectacular find in seemingly perfect shape! The journey is just beginning now as you try to determine who would throw such an object d'art into the swamp and why. I hope to see it in person sometime when I'm next down in your beautiful state. I had a wonderful time in Charleston last year even though I didn't get a chance to detect.

 

[Back-of-the-boat]

Great find I am glad you found it. But I am like Smokey, there are other pieces still waiting for you, every metal piece on that gun was more than likely silver, so there are still some out there waiting for you to find them. I also now think instead of just having them displayed they are aching to be re-assembled on a beautiful stock of walnut burl. We are setting high goals for you, but you are delivering the goods. But in the end they are yours to do with as you please, just keep us informed if you find anymore and please show us your final results on displaying them. I love this journey you are taking us on with this beautiful piece of craftsmanship being brought back from it's grave into a resurrected state. You should name it Lazarus as you are bringing it back from the dead.

 

[Jose The Goon]

FANTASTIC !! HUGE CONGRATS !! So happy for you that you finally found it ! It is gorgeous !! Looks to be very heavy. How much does it weigh ?? Since the beginning of your finds until now, I thought your relic was a Flintlock Pistol, not a "musket/long gun/rifle". I couldn't tell by your image of the barrel. I know from searching about Joseph Heylin that he made pistols, muskets, blunderbusses, fowling guns etc. & used John King for the silver pieces. So judging from your butt plate, it looks like it isn't from a pistol after all.
The image I've been making has the wrong text but I can easily change things. Let me know if you would like something different & I will gladly make the adjustments. But for now, the image in this post has the old text but your latest find is included. I increased the "canvas" size from 1220 x 920 pixels to 2400 x 1600 in order to squeeze in more pieces & keep the clarity. It's great that the images that you post are 4000 to 5000 pixels & very clear. They can be "enlarged down" & keep their sharpness of clarity.
In regards to your post in the other thread when you found the thumb plate, & for any of our "TNET" members who might be interested, I use a free internet download from "GIMP - GNU IMAGE MANIPULATION PROGRAM"
It has tons of tools & functions but I only use a few for making the images I post. I started doing it a few years ago to "clean up" & enlarge old family photos suitable for framing. GIMP has its own tutorials on its website & there are great Youtube tutorials on the net. I just Google; "How do I do such & such using GIMP?" People are very helpful.
It's not that complicated but it does take a little practice to get the hang of it. It's like learning how to use a different type of metal detector or learning to play a musical instrument. What takes the most time is cutting an image out of another image and saving it to a picture file & properly following a handful of steps, then those images can be pasted onto other images in layers. Like anything, if you do it enough, it becomes second nature. I'm not an artist by any means. I couldn't draw a picture or paint a painting to save my life. My cellphone is an antique that I just use to make or receive calls in an emergency. I use an old desktop HP computer with a manual mouse & I still haven't upgraded out of Windows 7. But I enjoy fiddling around with GIMP late at night for pictures etc. for family & friends. I really enjoy your story & finds. Very worthy of a little "GIMPING
AROUND" with. Makes me feel creative. Anyone can do it if interested. Keep those parts coming !!!
A very beautiful, historic find ! You deserve it for all the effort in the mud & muck you are putting in.
Thanks for sharing. Huge congrats again !!
CHEERS !! J.T.G.

 

[pepperj]

What a work of art, congratulations on getting the piece.