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  1. J

    Lefties who shoot right hand locks?

    I'm left-handed and have never owned a left handed gun. Fintlocks are mildly disconcerting at first but you soon get accustomed to it... Left handed flintlocks were virtually unknown in period but I doubt that the left-handed portion of the population was any less than it is today.
  2. J

    When was the Single Set Trigger first used?

    I had single set triggers on a pair of Twigg & Bass Dueling Pistols made in 1796-97. Dueling pistols being very conservative in design, I would not assume they were a completely new idea at the time. But, they could have been used on best grade London guns for 50 years or more before they were...
  3. J

    Club butt fowlers

    I've had 6 or 8 of them, all originals of course. I don't think I ever shot any of them but I do remember that they were quite comfortable on the shoulder and that I thought the design was perfect for the heavy loads most were expected to use...keeping in mind that "shooting flying" was a rich...
  4. J

    Touch Hole Liner Dangerous?

    True enough. Bushed touch holes are reasonably common on American guns. I have several myself, one of which is a Henry Pratt rifle (ca.1820) thats my favorite flintlock shooter. But, in every case I have seen on an original American used flintlock, the bushing is much smaller than the...
  5. J

    Touch Hole Liner Dangerous?

    None of the touch hole liners on "best grade" British guns were removable. They were often made of gold and later platinum (which they called "platina" and used because it was much cheaper than gold was at the time). The comparison to the modern version is strained at best... especially when...
  6. J

    I'm Drooling!

    I don't think its worth a penny more than the asking price...if that. Cheap "tourist trade" junk - and this sort of stuff goes back well into the 19th (if not the 18th) century. The vertical striations on the frizzen are common on Mediterranean and North African guns.
  7. J

    Are Percussion caps corrosive?

    Non corrosive caps were introduced in the 1930s. By Remington, I believe but I find it hard to imagine that anyone is still making them.
  8. J

    What the.....Where am I? Civil War?..

    I remember Civil War cards... I'm a little older than you so I was probably 12 at the time and already "collecting" (I had an Egyptian Model Rolling Block, a birthday present from my mother) I always remember that the Ft. Sumpter card (which may have been #1) had a correct description of the...
  9. J

    Does Anybody Know What This Is?

    You're right Russ. It has an odd mixture of early and late features which is why I vote for a relatively late date. I don't think we can apply the same "feature dating" techniques we're all accustomed to in a case like this. I wouldn't be surprised if the "writing" is gibberish put there by a...
  10. J

    1817 U.S. Flintlock Rifle

    I have two Common rifles in the office. I'll try to get you a picture tomorrow since I have to take some photographs in any case. I think the Hawken box looks the same but I'm sure mine has the spring also. Joe Puleo
  11. J

    Does Anybody Know What This Is?

    The pistol looks Balkan or Turkish to me... Greece, Macedonia, the Agean shore of Turkey etc. Flintlocks hung on a long time there, well into the 20th century because the Ottoman Government resisted allowing the locals being armed with anything newer. I'd guess its between 1800 and 1840 even...
  12. J

    Replica M1817 Common Rifle

    Both of which are goals that could be achieved without the added "ageing". After all, if, as you say its a replica... why isn't a replica of the Common rifle as it looked new? That is how they were actually used. I shoot my Johnson (1821) all the time...I don't think there is any safety issue...
  13. J

    Replica M1817 Common Rifle

    I agree. In fact, I'd go a bit further and suggest this one skates along the edge of being a fake. I collect Common rifles and doubt it would fool me but there is very little in print about them and unless you've handled many originals, I bet it would fool quite a few people. The odd thing (to...
  14. J

    What is a "musket"?

    Right... but they are only the continued use of an archaic term. In this case to describe the military version of a common civilian arm. Its perfectly logical and no one at the time thought the Russian M95 Winchester was anything except a rifle...
  15. J

    What is a "musket"?

    I'm with Russ in having a hard time understanding what the confusion is here. Rifled Musket...a gun that was a smoothbore and has been rifled. There are several official US patterns. They include the Remington Maynard conversions that were made from M1816/1821 muskets as well as several...
  16. J

    R Watt Side by Side

    It looks like "R Watt Jnr" [junior] to me. Of course, it could have been furnished by the Brimingham trade to a jeweler or some other retailer that wasn't primarily a "gunmaker" and isn't listed anywhere as such. Since most "gunamkers" didn't actually make guns, the name often only represents...
  17. J

    R Watt Side by Side

    Blackmore has a Watt/Watts family in the London trade from the 17th century right through the mid 19th. None of the later ones have a first initial of "R". Bailey & Nie don't have anyone with that name in their lists of the provincial trade. I'd guess its the London family but a member that was...
  18. J

    flash guard bess

    I don't think its an officer's musket. Much more likely its for a member of a posh volunteer unit ca 1790-1810 when Britain was concerned about a possible French invasion. There are many more of these than there are true "officers" muskets and sometimes it is almost impossible to tell the...
  19. J

    Pistol find questions

    A Belgian-made cavalry pistol. Its a very late flintlock, probably made in the 1840s. They bear a slight resemblance to British/Indian percussion single shot pistols and could have been made for the near eastern trade. There are actually lots of them in circulation, imported (probably from...
  20. J

    Underhammer Rifles for the Republic of Texas

    One source that has been completely overlooked on the Kendall underhammers is "American and English Tool builders" by Joseph Wickham Roe. In the back, in the appendices, is a letter from R.W. Lawrence to one of his sons detailing his early days in the gun business and his career with Robbins &...
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