Safely firing an antique gun

RMFnLA said:

Stick a piece of rubber tubing on the nipple and blow into it.

Click to expand...

Keyhole said:

Here's what I do:
-make sure it's not loaded
-clean it well
-look for structural issues on the outside, including nipple, vent hole lock etc
-run a bore scope down the barrel, inspect barrel and powder chamber
-fire a cap/spark the pan
-fire light loads first, pulling trigger with a string from a safe distance: 10gr, 20 gr, 30gr, 40 gr. Swab barrel and check for issues after each shot
-full powder charge
-projectile with half charge, then again with full charge
-clean up and check for issues again

Click to expand...

cebusey said:

You can get them very inexpensively now - The one I have i believe was under $20 from Amazon and works great for bore inspection purposes

Click to expand...

Zapadach said:

Do you mean an endoscope, or as you say, a colostomy camera ?............

Click to expand...

Malamute said:

I disagree with the comment about it appearing to be loaded with the rod stopping at that point, thats the junction of the barrel and breech plug, I would expect it to stop farther up the barrel to account for the threads of the plug going into the barrel.

Still, best to get a scope and have a look.

Some use a bright steel ball bearing to reflect light back up the barrel of a light shined into the muzzle, some use a small light dropped down the bore, neither of which shows the extreme rear of the bore, but can indicate the general condition of the bore. The inexpensive endoscopes are nice to have, though I bought one and only found out later it requires a wifi connection to work, which reduces it usefulness to me tremendously, not to mentioned I couldnt get it to work at all on 2 of my devices. If possible I suggest one that does not require wifi to work, meaning it can go to the range or in your field gear or auto tools and be used anywhere at any time.

As an example, I bought a cheap one at walmart once to look into the cylinder of a motorcycle I was looking at, no wifi, it was stand alone with its own screen. Far more useful, I just didnt have it at the time I needed it (halfway across the country) so bought the useless one that worked with a phone and wifi.

Click to expand...

Sparkplug said:

The camera usually has its own wifi to connect with your phone. Turn on the camera, then open the wifi settings on your phone/tablet. This will sometimes install a required app. Then just open the app with the device connected to the camera.

Yours could be different tho.

Click to expand...

TrailWalker said:

When firing an antique gun, I usually just turn my head away and pray to the Almighty whilst pulling the trigger.

In all seriousness, I’ve found those little car endoscopes (for peering inside cylinders and looking at valve trains) come in real handy for checking out deep dark bores. They typically have a series of LEDs situated around the lens and allow you to adjust their brightness via a little knob or wheel.

Click to expand...