bought a JM Caswell smooth rifle please help

[adkmountainken]

just bought a JM Caswell .50 smooth rifle today. has a few issues and a couple replacement parts but overall it functions and i'm happy to add it to my collection. first the tang is an obvious replacement. and i think some parts inside the lock may be. barrel is 38 inches long stamped JM Caswell Lansingburgh is all i can make out. on bottom of the barrel is stamped 6. locks has JM Caswell stamp also. barrel is tapered octagon and end of barrel mic's .499 trigger guard has saw repair. hammer works as should but has a lot of travel and feels weak still snaps a number 11 cap though. nipple and breech are severely rusted nipple will not budge but have not attacked that problem yet. barrel is clear and pretty clean with bore light. i love these old guns and would love to hunt small game or shoot round ball with light loads. i do not have access to the book set Swinney's "New York State Firearms Trade really wish i did guess i will have to buy the set shortly. can anyone help me date this particular rifle? any info or insight would be GREATLY appreciated!

 

[adkmountainken]

how did i do for $300 ???

 

[CuNosecap]

Pretty cool piece. Even better if you can get it working smoothly.

 

[adkmountainken]

Pretty cool piece. Even better if you can get it working smoothly.

i think it will shoot ok right now BUT would love to get it cleaned from head to toe first.

 

[bpd303]

For the seized up nipple, soak it in Kroil or a 50/50 mix of Dexron II ATF and acetone, plug it and pour some down the bore. I think you did good at $300 and it looks fully restore-able to me. I would be a little concerned with the rust around the drum/nipple.

 

[Rawhide67]

I asked Ken to take pics of the sear, because don’t think the bushing is original to the lock. I also suspect the tumbler may be a replacement since it looks suspiciously like a cva tumbler. There is over travel ( a lot) past the full cock notch. A little forward/backward wobble of the hammer on the hammer post. The hammer post has a hand crafted look to it, much more so than the rest of the lock. Also the hammer and tumbler do not draw tight to the lock plate, leaving a small gap. The bridle snugs this up to some extent.

My question would be are the bushing and tumbler contemporary replacements?