bought a used double rifle, i have some questions

[sethb]

i bought a used .50 cal pedersoli double rifle. it seemed like a sweet deal, but now im not sure. i got it from the local gunshop, been talking to the owner for a month about it. took it home today, and when i took the nipples off it was clogged with black wet gunk, both of em. i poked em clear as best i could and put a straw in there and blew. no air got through. im completely new to blackpowder, have a handle on the basics, but was wondering what i do if it ends up that i have two loaded barrels that wont ignite. beginning to worry that this deal was too good to be true.

 

Seth,
A number of years ago I had a similar situation with a double barreled shotgun, also a Pedersoli. I would dismount the barrel assembly, plug the nipples, or nipple seats, and pour solvent into the barrels. Let it soak for a couple of days and then start cleaning. If you can get a bore light down it might help determine if it is a load or just plain crud. For the cleaning I would place the breech in a bucket, laundry tub etc and use the ramrod and patch to pump the soapy water through the barrels, after removing the nipples. The pressure and soaking should break the crud up unless you have a really unusal condition. Be optimistic, it's harder to hurt these things real bad than you would think. At the very least you will be killing any charge that might be down there and can then safely pull the balls.
Mark

 

[curator]

Run the ramrod down the barrel and mark it where the muzzle is. Remove it and hold it alongside the barrel with the muzzle mark at the barrel's end and see how far it was going down the barrel, This should give you an idea if there is anything (a load?) in the barrel. If there is nothing in the barrel take a strong wire and clean out the flash channel. Before loading take a couple of caps and fire them off with the muzzle about 6 inches away from grass or dry leaves. You should be able to see evidence of air coming out of the barrels before you load the rifle. If the flash channels are still plugged try stronger wire. I always "pop" a couple of caps before loading any percussion rifle for the first time. Once you are sure the flash channel is open, you are good to go for this shooting session. Remember to pull the nipple to properly clean the barrel and breech with water. Be sure to put grease or anti-sieze compound on nipple threads before replacing them. Enjoy your double rifle!

 

[Stumpkiller]

If there are balls and patches ahead of the powder you can either invest in a CO2 ball discharger (I don't own one) or a 98¢ Zirk fitting (make sure you get the ine with parallel threads - not the self-tapping variety). Pump the barrel with grease and the ball (or stuch jag as can also happen) will slide out.

Messy, but effective.

If you are lucky it is just oily goo in the breeches and will clean out with soap & water.

 

[sethb]

thanks everybody. i stuck the ram rod down each barrel. the ramrod goes the same distance down each barrel. there's about 1 1/2" of ramrod sticking out of the barrel, when pushed all the way down. it feels kind of like it's hittin something soft in each one. i'll give the solvent a go, see how it goes. living where i do, in northern illinois, it'll be a while before i can try shooting it.

 

[RADeO]

Did you mark the ramrod at the muzzle then lay it alongside the barrel as curator suggested in his post? That will tell you right away whether or not you have a ball downbore, or are just dealing with a bunch of crud. Did you see any black gunk on the end of the rod when you removed it from the bore?

 

[flintlockmdj]

Be SHURE that the bores are not loaded before you snap any caps on the gun. You never know what they are loaded with.
Someone could have loaded them with smokeless powder in which case they would probably blow up.

 

[jethro224]

I agree, don't try to shoot it until you are sure there are not loads in there. Smokeless would be a very bad thing. :shocked2:

If you're in driving distance of Peoria get a hold of me if you can't get 'er figgered out. I have the stuff to unload 'em.

 

[Zonie]

sethb
First off, sense you got this at a "gun shop", that is where you should go before you do anything else.
Tell the owner what you found and ask him to fix it (for free).

You can tell him you asked for our advice and our cautions and we told you about the possibility of both barrels being loaded. Also mention that they may be loaded with smokeless powder and firing them could easily blow the gun up.

IMO, he owes it to you to unplug both barrels, even if he suggested that "you take it as is".
Mention that his fixing it will be much cheaper than the lawsuit that will happen if that gun blows up because of smokeless powder.

Also mention that you have heard from someone who has bought a used gun (me) and that gun WAS loaded with smokeless powder. (Fortunately, I found it before trying to fire the gun.)

By the way, unbreeching the gun IS NOT the recommended method of clearing whatever is in there. Compressed air, CO2 ball dischargers and pumped grease all work well.

 

[paulvallandigham]

It was not uncommon back when for shooters who had loads in their guns that would not fire- usually damp powder, or clogged flash channels, or both-- to remove the OS card, and pour out the shot, so that if the gun was ever fired, all that would come out was the OP wad and Cushion wads- usually not a fatal wound if someone is hit with them. I have seen this is several old shotguns, of various vintage, from the 19th century to the mid 20th century. All I can suppose is that the shooter, not have the proper equipment to clear the barrel, decided to do this as a way to protect his family from injury until he figured out how, or save enough money, to clear the load. Then as time passed, he forgot about it, and it never got done. The gun gets sold- because its not being used anymore, and the family can't afford to have something sitting around that doesn't work. Or, it gets passed down as an heirloom, and the kids and grandkids have no idea the gun is loaded with powder and wads. If they did, they have no idea how to take them out, either.


The latter is how I have been introduced to several such guns. People find out I am " into Black Powder " guns, and ask me if I can clear a gun they inherited that they think is loaded. I even get referrals from other lawyers in the community where I live. I'm the "Gun Lawyer".

I use a ball puller jag( large wood screw type) to run into the wads, and pull them. Plain water dissolves the powder under neath it, and soap tends to help the process at that point. I have put my patch worm down the barrel to help dig through the compacted powder, and break it up so it will come out faster.

The nipple has to come out, and the clean out screw, if there is one, has to be removed for adequate cleaning too. I really want to get a good look at that flash channel to see what damage has been done there. Expect to have to replace the nipple, because of the abuse the original one has suffered. I would only keep an original nipple if the gun is beyond repair, and will become ONLY a heirloom wall-hanger.

 

[sethb]

turned out to be a false alarm. full of powder gunk. soaked it and poked it. clean as a whistle now. it came with this mickey mouse scope mount job though. probably why it was such a deal. the scope mount is brazed on, so one of my goals is to have that removed and express sights put on. i double bagged the scope when i cleaned it, but water still got in there. soapy water. so i'll have to step up my plans to have that attrocity removed before this fall.

 

[RADeO]

Glad things worked out all right for you. Good luck on your mount-removal project. :hatsoff:

 

[torn moc]

Glad she cleaned up for ya! It would be a good idea to take the barrel off and pour a couple of ounces of penetrating oil down the barrel...then set it in the corner muzzle up over a couple of sheets of paper....this will let ya know if any corrosion had started in the breechplug threads...
if no oil drips out youre fine...

 

[Keppy]

You say they brazed a scope mount on the barrels? I hope they silver soldered it and knew what they were doing. Had a bad experience on a double barrel 12 gauage years ago. Good luck with it. :thumbsup:
I seen one a while back, just like your talking about in .54 cal. But it seems it had a 1/28 twist I think. It was a reasonable price but didn't think it would shoot RB very well. The guy said he shot sabot's or something like that. One barrel shot higher than the other. Have fun with it and let us know how it goes. :hatsoff:

 

[sethb]

this one's supposed to be 1 in 60", but the guy said he was shooting .49 rb in plastic sabots out of it. i plan to try patch n ball first off. there's no stamps on the barrels, other than "made in italy".

 

[sethb]

can anything be done ifn it starts dripping from the plugs?

 

[RADeO]

I doubt that will happen, but in case it does you may have to get a gunsmith to pull the leaking plug(s), inspect the female threads in the barrel(s), and possibly chase the threads, then machine and install oversized plugs if needed.

 

[sethb]

it's looking clean and ready to shoot. aside scope mount, it seems good to go. im not sure why, but the previous owner REALLY wanted a scope on his double rifle

 

[sethb]

and i will count myself lucky if the barrels are reasonably regulated.

 

[Little Wattsy]

i bought a used .50 cal pedersoli double rifle. it seemed like a sweet deal, but now im not sure. i got it from the local gunshop, been talking to the owner for a month about it. took it home today, and when i took the nipples off it was clogged with black wet gunk, both of em. i poked em clear as best i could and put a straw in there and blew. no air got through. im completely new to blackpowder, have a handle on the basics, but was wondering what i do if it ends up that i have two loaded barrels that wont ignite. beginning to worry that this deal was too good to be true.

If its not RUST..its fixable and all good!