Brown Bess Short Land Pattern
- Category
- Rifle
- Barrel
- 1067 mm
- Weight, empty
- 4.76 kg
- Introduced
- 1768
About
What it is, and why it matters
The Brown Bess Short Land Pattern is a .75 caliber flintlock smoothbore musket, the shortened service variant of the British Land Pattern Musket family adopted by Royal Warrant in 1768. With a 42-inch (1,067 mm) barrel it was lighter and handier than the earlier Long Land Pattern, and it became the principal infantry musket carried by British forces during the American Revolutionary War. Being smoothbore and muzzle-loaded, it fired a roughly one-ounce lead ball at low velocity and was accurate only at short range, depending on disciplined massed volley fire and the socket bayonet for effect.
Shortened from the Long Land Pattern, its handier length let it be fired from horseback, making it a favourite of mounted dragoon troops; it is the Brown Bess most associated with the redcoats of the American Revolution.
Sometimes called the Second Model Brown Bess. Standardised for all British services by Royal Warrant dated 11 June 1768; superseded in front-line manufacture by the India Pattern from the 1790s. Muzzle velocity for period smoothbores is approximate.
Specification
Everything measured
IdentityWhat it is, who built it and when.
- Manufacturer
- British Board of Ordnance
- Category
- Rifle
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Status
- Out of production
- Produced
- 1768 to 1797
- Variant of
- Barrel length
DimensionsAs issued, without a magazine or an optic.
- Barrel
- 1067 mm
- Overall length
- 1486 mm
- Weight, empty
- 4.76 kg
ActionHow it cycles, what trips it, and what feeds it.
- Action
- Muzzleloader
- Firing mechanism
- Flintlock
- Trigger
- Single stage
MaterialsEach swatch is the material itself, not a colour chosen to stand for it.
- Barrel
- Steel
- Stock
- Wood
- Finish
- Russet brown
BallisticsFrom the service cartridge, not a handload.
- Muzzle velocity
- 305 m/s
- Effective range
- 46 m
- Maximum range
- 274 m
- Rate of fire
- 3 rpm
Trajectory
What the round does downrange
Solved from the muzzle figures and the bullet. The dashed rule is the effective range on the record, and the crosses are the steps the solver returned.
No load solved for this record yetThe flight path is computed from a cartridge and a bullet. This record has no ammunition filed against its chambering, so there is nothing to solve.
Features
What it has
What the record lists as fitted, drawn from the catalogue.
Smoothbore barrel
Muzzle loaded
Brass furniture
Socket bayonet lug
Ramrod
Standing
How it compares
Each figure against the firearms of the same type and cartridge that record it, or of the same type where that cartridge has too few. Positions are read to the nearest tenth.
| Measurement | This firearm | Median | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| Empty weightAmong 1,612 rifles | 4.76 kg | 3.50 kg | Heavier than about 90% |
| Overall lengthAmong 1,557 rifles | 1486 mm | 1080 mm | Longer than about 90% |
| Barrel lengthAmong 1,659 rifles | 1067 mm | 584 mm | Longer than about 90% |
Answers
Questions about the Brown Bess Short Land Pattern
How much does the Brown Bess Short Land Pattern weigh?
The Brown Bess Short Land Pattern weighs 4.76 kg (10.50 lb) empty.
What caliber is the Brown Bess Short Land Pattern?
The Brown Bess Short Land Pattern is chambered in .75 Caliber Musket Ball.
How long is the Brown Bess Short Land Pattern?
The Brown Bess Short Land Pattern is 1486 mm (58.5 in) long overall, with a 1067 mm (42.0 in) barrel.
Who makes the Brown Bess Short Land Pattern?
The Brown Bess Short Land Pattern is made by British Board of Ordnance (United Kingdom).
When was the Brown Bess Short Land Pattern introduced?
The Brown Bess Short Land Pattern was introduced in 1768 and discontinued in 1797.
How does the Brown Bess Short Land Pattern operate?
The Brown Bess Short Land Pattern uses a muzzleloader action, and its firing mechanism is flintlock.
Compatibility
Which parts fit this firearm
Studio
Every part that mounts on this, resolved
Not a list the maker typed out: the answer comes from the mounts this firearm exposes and the interface each part needs, so it stays right when either one changes.
- Every part that mounts on any firearm in the catalogue
- Interface standards, platforms and fit overrides
- The same answers through the API and the MCP server
Requires a signed-in GunSpec account on the Studio plan. The answer is computed per part, so it is not part of the public record.
Provenance
What the record holds
Every figure above was taken from one of these pages. The confidence reflects how much of the record came from a page a claim can be checked against.
In service
- British Army
- 1768
- Continental Army / United States
- United States
Provenance
Confidence in this record
72%
Stockists
Where to buy
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No shop has listed this firearm yet
Stock and prices come from the shops themselves. If you sell this firearm, you can list it and it appears here.
List a firearmMCP
Ask an assistant about it
The same record, reached the way a person asks for it rather than the way a program does.
Ask GunSpec
Works with
Point an MCP client at GunSpec and it answers from the catalogue rather than from memory. A free key covers the read tools.
API
The call that returns this record
The same fields, in the same units, from the same endpoint the page reads.
curl --request GET \ --url 'https://api.gunspec.io/v1/firearms/brown-bess-short-land' \ --header 'X-API-Key: your_key'{ "id": "brown-bess-short-land", "name": "Brown Bess Short Land Pattern", "manufacturer": { "id": "british-board-of-ordnance", "name": "British Board of Ordnance", "countryCode": "GB", "foundedYear": 1683, "website": null, "logoUrl": null, "description": null, "status": null, "defunctYear": null, "stateOwned": null, "makesFirearms": null, "parentId": null, "predecessorId": null, "createdAt": "2026-06-21 23:00:46", "updatedAt": "2026-06-21 23:00:46", "version": "6bd8faa077b0d13d543808d807ebfa163e82342621ee2d9b6be2c2f94fcae323" }, "category": { "id": "rifle", "name": "Rifle", "description": "Long-barreled firearms designed for accurate shooting" }, "country_of_origin": "GB", "year_introduced": 1768, "barrel_length_mm": 1067, "weight_empty_g": 4763, "action_type": "muzzleloader"}