.36 caliber something or other

[Skipper_52]

New to the forum. I recently acquired an old percussion rifle. Barrel is 30" long and after filing it for 6 hours I got a lot of the pits out but not all of them. I was told it was a 32 but when I put dial calipers in the barrel it read .36. Ishould have taken beginning photos but I didn't (sorry). There are no maker marks on this thing. There are some letters on the hammer spring assembly but that along with the triggers are at the platers (sorry again). The stock is tiger cherry and was cracked in more than one spot up on the forearm. This was epoxied and ca'd before I started sanding it. The rifling cleaned up enough to someday shoot it. If it's not accurate I'll have it bored out to a 50.
One of the mounting lugs on the bottom of the barrel was gone and I had a friend weld me a new one on. I'll drill the mounting hole after the stock is finished. I'll try and answer any questions you have with help identifying this 'thing'. Being an avid woodworker I know it's old. The tooling/chisel marks are all done by hand. I'm guessing it's somewhere around pre-civil war. The gun was heavily used as there is was a lot of exterior wear on the parts. The plated parts will be in this week and I'll send pics of them too. Any help you can give me is appreciated.

Oh yeah, the ram rod mounts cam through the stock and were screwed into it under the barrel at the mounting tang locations. I believe these helped weaken the stock so I'm replacing them with under stock mounts. They are pics 6 and 7.

 

[Skipper_52]

There are (3) brass filled (brazed in) dovetails on the bottom of the barrel and can't figure out that they were for or why they were filled.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Well, it's not an antique, sorry to say.
The ramrod thimble and nose cap attachment are a giveaway. This is more likely 1960's vintage at a time when there really were no books on how to DIY a rifle. Ramrod thimbles from the 18th -19th century were pinned into the stock as was this barrel, when the rifle is not a half-stocked version.

The brass in the dovetails shows it was likely a used barrel when the barrel was built into the rifle. Brass barrel underlugs are still used and what the builder did was install them into existing barrel lug positions as fillers, then filed them flat, planning to install the current underlugs made of steel. Brass underlugs

LD

 

[Skipper_52]

Well, it's not an antique, sorry to say.
The ramrod thimble and nose cap attachment are a giveaway. This is more likely 1960's vintage at a time when there really were no books on how to DIY a rifle. Ramrod thimbles from the 18th -19th century were pinned into the stock as was this barrel, when the rifle is not a half-stocked version.

The brass in the dovetails shows it was likely a used barrel when the barrel was built into the rifle. Brass barrel underlugs are still used and what the builder did was install them into existing barrel lug positions as fillers, then filed them flat, planning to install the current underlugs made of steel. Brass underlugs

LD

Do you have any idea why the barrel or other parts would not have some kind of builder's mark on it? So I guess I'll finish it up and enjoy shooting it anyway.

 

[Rifleman1776]

Yep. What LD said. Not old.

 

[Skipper_52]

Yep. What LD said. Not old.

I'm appreciating the help.

 

[Brazos John]

I'm appreciating the help.

That's what's great about the members on this forum.
So many folks know so much, that together, they about know it all!
Good luck with your project.
Welcome from Texas!

 

[Skipper_52]

This rear sight measures .72 to the long points of the dovetail. Should I be looking for replacement sights at .72?

 

[Grenadier1758]

@Skipper_52, when you measured the bore, is that the land to land dimension or the larger groove diameter?

@Loyalist Dave is correct.

 

[TDM]

I’m far from the level of knowledge that @Loyalist Dave, @Rifleman1776, and @Grenadier1758 have. But I picked up on it not being old right away. But that’s not a problem, keep working on it and you may end up with a good shooter.

 

[user 48679]

This rear sight measures .72 to the long points of the dovetail. Should I be looking for replacement sights at .72?

Welcome to the board ! !


I've personally never heard of a sight being available with that almost 3/4" measurement, so it may be selfmade by the builder to their druthers.

 

[Skipper_52]

@Skipper_52, when you measured the bore, is that the land to land dimension or the larger groove diameter?

@Loyalist Dave is correct.

I believe it was land to land.

 

[LSLibelo]

Welcome from California.

 

[Skipper_52]

Probably get a bunch of negative feedback but doing as best I can. I sent the parts out for nickel plating and it looks better than it was. All the rust pits were impossible to get out but I did the best I could. Can't find the traditional sights I need to fit these oversize dovetails and I'm wondering if JB weld would hold an adapter into the existing slots. I could thread those before I jb welded them in place. I have temporarily made magnetic mounts and after talking to my brother found out T/C had made a magnetic mount for a scope. I had this extra scope 3-9x laying around and decided to try it. The mount is 3d printed. I have very slight windage movement that I believe is caused from using round magnets instead of rectangular ones (which are ordered). Opinions good or bad are always welcome and help us novices keep the cart BEHIND the horse.

 

[Skipper_52]

Testing this post

 

[Eterry]

It is certainly yours and you can do as you wish. But the vast majority of original and reproduction muzzleloader barrels are blued or browned, with fixed iron sights and brass or iron trim.
The sights, while rudimentary, can be surprisingly accurate with little practice.

Most members if asked would've suggested browning the barrel, putting the iron sights back on, peening the dovetails to tighten them in place, and going from there.

This forum has collectively centuries of experience in getting neglected muzzleloaders back shooting.

Again, it's yours to do a you wish, but the brown barrel and brass trim is what sets these rifle apart from modern cartridge arms.

 

[Eterry]

This rear sight measures .72 to the long points of the dovetail. Should I be looking for replacement sights at .72?

Those sights definitely look shop made, but that doesn't mean they won't do yeoman service.