|
Forum Rules | Firearms Safety | Firearms Photos | Links | Library | Lost Password | Email Changes |
Register | FAQ | Calendar | Search | Today's Posts | Mark Forums Read |
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
October 28, 2017, 12:07 PM | #1 |
Member
Join Date: March 10, 2009
Location: Central Florida
Posts: 54
|
Picked up a wall hanger... (more pics added)
Because it amused me.
I'm not sure if it's the 200+/- year old handiwork of someone's great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather bubba (give or take a great or two), or just good old American ingenuity. Perhaps Elmer Fudd's ancestor got the end of his barrel blown to smithereens by a carrot stuck in the end, and he cut it down to "fix" it, or it's someone making themselves a maneuverable home defense gun, or Buffalo gun, or Coach gun. You decide! It started life as a 1700's smoothbore flintlock musket, or maybe a flintlock fowler, as near as I can tell. Anyone here care to make another guess, or a more educated guess than me? There are no markings anywhere on it. The barrel now measures 15 7/8", with a total overall length of the gun coming in at approx. 31 1/2" long. They added a front sight after it was cut down. It looks as though someone used the end of the barrel as a battering ram. The outside diameter of the barrel is about 7/8". Last edited by HillBilly Willy; October 29, 2017 at 01:51 PM. |
October 28, 2017, 12:10 PM | #2 |
Member
Join Date: March 10, 2009
Location: Central Florida
Posts: 54
|
Couple more pics. This is going up above the fireplace with a couple other antiques.
|
October 28, 2017, 12:55 PM | #3 |
Senior Member
Join Date: October 25, 2001
Location: Alabama
Posts: 18,486
|
Looks like somebody's military musket cut way back.
One term for unusually short muzzleloaders is "canoe gun." |
October 28, 2017, 01:38 PM | #4 |
Member
Join Date: March 10, 2009
Location: Central Florida
Posts: 54
|
That's a term I don't recall hearing before. Googled it, and another similar term came up too. Blanket gun, not that I think this is one.
|
October 28, 2017, 01:55 PM | #5 |
Junior member
Join Date: October 20, 2012
Posts: 5,854
|
I'd fix it up, charge it with buck, and stick it next to the bed. No use in having a gun you can't use. Would make a fearsome defender.
|
October 28, 2017, 02:14 PM | #6 |
Member
Join Date: March 10, 2009
Location: Central Florida
Posts: 54
|
I don't know that it is safe to fire. I'd want to at least break it down first and check the barrel to make sure there's no damage to it anywhere.
|
October 28, 2017, 08:23 PM | #7 |
Senior Member
Join Date: September 8, 2007
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 16,177
|
It wasn't military with that trigger guard and single lock screw. Probably a fowler.
|
October 28, 2017, 09:14 PM | #8 |
Staff
Join Date: November 2, 1998
Location: Colorado
Posts: 21,824
|
Looks like scavenged parts were used to assemble it. That was not unusual back then. The buttplate looks like it came off a Bess and the lock from somewhere else. Dunno about that triggerguard (I'm away from my library right now).
__________________
Vigilantibus et non dormientibus jura subveniunt. Molon Labe! |
October 28, 2017, 09:44 PM | #9 |
Senior Member
Join Date: October 22, 2016
Posts: 3,878
|
It is a flintlock, so I wouldn't do that. Were it a percussion... yeah.
__________________
"We always think there's gonna be more time... then it runs out."
|
October 28, 2017, 10:24 PM | #10 |
Senior Member
Join Date: March 16, 2007
Location: Southern Arizona
Posts: 3,888
|
Certainly will be a conversation piece hanging on a wall. Where’d you get it?
|
October 28, 2017, 11:18 PM | #11 |
Member
Join Date: March 10, 2009
Location: Central Florida
Posts: 54
|
It was on consignment at a shop that specializes in British sporting guns and accessories.
Good comments, guys. Thanks. I don't know much about flintlocks, and even less about this piece. I haven't tried taking it apart yet. Are there any additional pictures I could take that would help? |
October 29, 2017, 10:13 AM | #12 | |
Member
Join Date: March 10, 2009
Location: Central Florida
Posts: 54
|
Quote:
You may be right about the scavenged parts though. The butt plate isn't quite flush at the bottom. Here's a closer up view of the triggerguard. Last edited by HillBilly Willy; October 29, 2017 at 01:49 PM. |
|
October 29, 2017, 02:09 PM | #13 |
Member
Join Date: March 10, 2009
Location: Central Florida
Posts: 54
|
Closer picture of the lock, with what little detail it has left to it.
|
October 29, 2017, 05:19 PM | #14 |
Senior Member
Join Date: July 7, 2009
Location: Texas
Posts: 1,246
|
That is way too cool!
I've considered a barrel like that for my Lyman. Either a 28 ga or .54 cal from 16-20" possibly. Just seems as though it would be handy for hunting in thick stuff. |
October 29, 2017, 05:34 PM | #15 |
Senior Member
Join Date: September 8, 2007
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 16,177
|
The butt plate doesn't fit right because somebody sanded the stock down.
|
October 29, 2017, 08:29 PM | #16 |
Staff
Join Date: November 2, 1998
Location: Colorado
Posts: 21,824
|
Yep, it's not a Bess butt plate. Let me check when I get home because the plates varied as the Bess evolved. They got simplier.
__________________
Vigilantibus et non dormientibus jura subveniunt. Molon Labe! |
October 29, 2017, 08:32 PM | #17 | |
Member
Join Date: March 10, 2009
Location: Central Florida
Posts: 54
|
Quote:
Could it be a mixmaster, and that was "close enough"? (or maybe they cut a little off the end of the butt stock?) I tried to get the buttplate off tonight, and those screws weren't budging with out damaging the screw heads. Last edited by HillBilly Willy; October 29, 2017 at 09:35 PM. |
|
October 29, 2017, 09:22 PM | #18 |
Junior member
Join Date: December 24, 2010
Posts: 508
|
First thought....that it is an early "Punt Gun"....cut down...
|
October 29, 2017, 09:27 PM | #19 | |
Member
Join Date: March 10, 2009
Location: Central Florida
Posts: 54
|
Quote:
Matter of fact, the same place where I got this had one. It had just been sold and was waiting for the buyer to arrange shipping. |
|
October 29, 2017, 10:36 PM | #20 |
Senior Member
Join Date: September 8, 2007
Location: Mississippi
Posts: 16,177
|
I've got an all original P53 Enfield that was sanded down like that. A lot of people don't think about wood to metal fit when they get out sandpaper and go to work. They just want to get rid of blemishes and when they put it back together it doesn't match.
|
October 30, 2017, 07:46 AM | #21 |
Senior Member
Join Date: January 2, 2012
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 3,876
|
A most unusual piece. I wonder what it was used for? (trapping/ behind the bar maybe?)
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
|
|