150-year-old loaded musket

[tmdreb]

Thanks for all the advice! A CO2 discharger won't work, I'm afraid, since it's impossible to get the hammer far enough away from the nipple without it breaking off. I'm probably just going to leave it as it is after another soaking of oil--the barrel started to flake the minute I put a rod in it with my ball puller. I really think it would crack if I applied the necessary pressure to pull whatever it is that's down there. When I said it was fragile, I was not exaggerating, I assure you.

Is it possible to remove the lock? If so, that would give you access to the nipple.

 

[CarolinaTKE]

I finally just took the "easy" route and brought it by the gun store. The gunsmith said the barrel is too thin and fragile to withstand pulling or CO2 with no damage, but he can get an "L" shaped pipe into the nipple (there's a bit of a gap between it and the hammer) and pump it full of oil from there, which will 100% ruin any powder that might be in the weapon.

Thanks to everyone for all the help. This just goes to show that sometimes the best advice, as was demonstrated here, is simply "you're in over your head"! After I get it back and oil it up, I'll finally be able to put it on display instead of keeping it locked in the gun safe.

 

[widget350]

Good to know that it's being taken care of. I'd of hated to read something in the paper about your 150 year old loaded gun...