Small iron-barrelled musketoon, 1751 (c)

The East India Company's guards used musketoons to defend the Company's 'factories' (commercial posts) on the Indian subcontinent. A musketoon was a shorter-barrelled version of a musket - it could be loaded with a single shot or with buckshot, rather like a modern shotgun.

Musketoons were usually kept in store until needed during sieges and in defence of walls. This example was made by the gunsmith John Bumford in London. He was contracted to the Company between 1745 and 1773.