Brown Bess

British Land Pattern Musket a.k.a. Brown Bess
A Short Land Pattern Musket
Type	Musket
Place of origin	Kingdom of Great Britain
Service history
In service	British Army 1722–1838
Used by	British Empire, Various Native American tribes, USA, Sweden, Mexico, Empire of Brazil, Zulu Kingdom
Wars	Indian Wars, Maroon Wars, Dummer's War, War of the Austrian Succession, Jacobite rising of 1745, Carnatic Wars, Seven Years' War, Anglo-Mysore Wars, Anglo-Maratha Wars, American Revolutionary War, Xhosa Wars, British Colonisation of Australia, Haitian Revolution, French Revolutionary Wars, Kandyan Wars, Irish Rebellion of 1798, Napoleonic Wars, Temne War, Emmet's Insurrection, British Expedition to Ceylon, Ashanti-Fante War, Musket Wars, Ga-Fante War, War of 1812, Greek War of Independence, Anglo-Ashanti Wars, Anglo-Burmese Wars, Baptist war, Texas Revolution (limited), Rebellions of 1837, Mexican-American War, Indian Rebellion of 1857, American Civil War (limited), Paraguayan War, Anglo-Zulu War
Production history
Designed	1722
Produced	1722–1860s (all variants)
Variants	Long Land Pattern, Short Land Pattern, Sea Service Pattern, India Pattern, New Land Pattern, New Light Infantry Land Pattern Cavalry Carbine
Specifications
Weight	10.5 pounds (4.8 kg)
Length	58.5 inches (149 cm)
Barrel length	42 inches (110 cm) – 46 inches (120 cm)
Cartridge	0.69 inches (18 mm) musket ball, undersized to reduce the effects of powder fouling
Action	Flintlock
Rate of fire	User dependent; usually 3 to 4 rounds a minute
Muzzle velocity	Variable
Effective firing range	Variable (50–100 yards)
Feed system	Muzzle-loaded

Brown Bess is a nickname of uncertain origin for the British Army's muzzle-loading smoothbore Land Pattern Musket and its derivatives. This musket was used in the era of the expansion of the British Empire and acquired symbolic importance at least as significant as its physical importance. It was in use for over a hundred years with many incremental changes in its design. These versions include the Long Land Pattern, the Short Land Pattern, the India Pattern, the New Land Pattern Musket and the Sea Service Musket.

The Long Land Pattern musket and its derivatives, all .75 caliber flintlock muskets, were the standard long guns of the British Empire's land forces from 1722 until 1838, when they were superseded by a percussion cap smoothbore musket. The British Ordnance System converted many flintlocks into the new percussion system known as the Pattern 1839 Musket. A fire in 1841 at the Tower of London destroyed many muskets before they could be converted. Still, the Brown Bess saw service until the middle of the nineteenth century.

Most male citizens of the American Colonies were required by law to own arms and ammunition for militia duty. The Long Land Pattern was a common firearm in use by both sides in the American War of Independence.

In 1808 during the age of Napoleon, the United Kingdom subsidised Sweden in various ways as the British anxiously wanted to keep an ally in the Baltic Sea area, among other things deliverances of war material and with those, significant numbers of Brown Bess muskets for use in the Finnish War.

During the Musket Wars (1820s–30s), Māori warriors used Brown Besses, having purchased them from European traders at the time. Some muskets were sold to the Mexican Army, which used them during the Texas Revolution of 1836 and the Mexican-American War of 1846 to 1848. Brown Besses saw service during the Indian rebellion of 1857. Zulu warriors, who had also purchased them from European traders, used them during the Anglo-Zulu War in 1879. One was even used in the Battle of Shiloh in 1862.