Brass musket or carbine buttplate?

[flatbutton]

Found this a few years ago in known union cavalry camp In New Bern N.C.

 

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[BosnMate]

Looks a whole lot like a muzzle loader shotgun or musket butt plate, with the upper finial broken off.

 

[BosnMate]

Lots of muskets and shotguns had the same butt plate in iron, but your butt plate could be a choice of several. Being the location you are in, it could also be off a British Brown Bess musket. I'll enclose a picture, note the screw holes are the same as your find, and with out the broken off finial, you really can't tell, but on the Brown Bess note where the plate was pinned near the front of the finial, where sporting guns tended, not all, but they tended to have shorter finials. Photo is Brown Bess butt plate and stock.
The earlier models of the Brown Bess had a longer finial. You have a brass butt plate, and for which gun, I think you can name a lot of flint lock muskets and not be far from wrong. Pretty tough call, especially when you realize that every gun was an individual that had no interchangeable parts, so measurements mean very little.

 

[flatbutton]

BosnMate, Actually If I remember correctly, I did find some colonial items at the same site, Most notably A Ben Franklin penny. Thanks for the reply, It does look a whole lot like the photos you posted!

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Good find on the buttplate.


Ben Franklin penny? Ol Ben will roll in the grave to hear you call his Fugio Cent a "penny". Cents are what the USA has always minted. Penny is a British currency. ;-)

 

[flatbutton]

Now that you mention it, Ben would probably be a little hot !

 

[Petrie502]

I absolutely agree its off a musket but it will be a hard ID

 

[Thommy]

You could check the measurements of the more common federal carbines, if you really want to nail it. Try Sharps, Spencer, and Smith carbines to start off with. I bet it's one of those, if it's federal.