36 cal, wall hanger(?)

[tom in nc]

I bought this .36 cal rifle cheap today. The seller said it was probably a wall hanger. The bore looks good and the stock was pretty at on time. The barrel has/had been painted. After I sanded the paint off, there are still no stampings or engraving on it. The barrel is 15/16 x 38". The cheap made lock has HRB on the outside and H&B on the inside. The trigger guard is a simple piece of thin brass. Anybody recognize it or parts thereof?

 

[ghostdncr]

Based on those five pictures, I'd have it out squirrel hunting before long. I see what appears to be a nice maple stock with pewter nose cap. The buttplate seems to be nicely fit and probably original to the stock. Cheek piece looks rather well formed and someone took the time to detail it. The engraving strikes me (totally of the cuff, mind you) as being late 19th century commercial work. I'm of no use beyond that as to who/where/when but it does remind me of so many of the Appalachian patchwork rifles I grew up around, strung together from the remaining good pieces of several worn out guns. I like it.

 

[tom in nc]

Thanks, yeah now that I know the bore looks good and the stock will be pretty again, albeit patched a place or two, I'm gonna try to make a shooter of it. The mainspring is missing from the lock, but our local gun shop has bunches of old parts. He will probably have a spring, or I might watch a video on YouTube again and make one myself. I had someone look at the gun this afternoon and he thinks the barrel and stock to be old original parts with some later, lesser quality repairs done.

 

[ghostdncr]

Forgot to add that I knew an ancient old man when I was a kid that swore by painted guns. He would've been born in the 1890's (if I'm doing the math right) and swore it eliminated any risk of rust. I didn't like it and never tried it, but do clearly remember him having a blue/green shotgun that strongly resembled a robin's egg in color. It was pretty hideous.

Making springs isn't that difficult if you have a few basic tools and can follow directions. Many of these old guns can be put back to service with that single ability. Let us know how it goes, okay? I'd be interested in seeing more photos, too. These piecemeal guns are apparently a favorite of mine, probably because so many were around local when I was young.

 

[tom in nc]

I had the guys at a local shop, who know old guns, look at parts of it today. They couldn't identify the maker but believe that is is most likely a NC or TN built gun.