Dave's 20 bore Perc/flint Double

A main question here, is are the barrels soldered or brazed together? I'm not certain when brazing started in Belgium, but brazing shows Belgium mfg'r. if present. Scratching between (underside of the) the barrels at the breech end will show yellow(brass) brazing or silvery solder. The trigger guard looks like that on a Belgium single gun I've shot. It was originally a flinter and the under-rib of the 1/2 round/oct. barrel was brazed to the barrel.

 

[54JNoll]

Dave,

Your pictures came out great.

Thanks for posting them Daryl.

 

Pleasure!

 

[Dave K]

The barrels are brazed together. Hope that helps. I know from what I have heard and read, that this rules out England. Thanks so much for posting the pictures!

 

My pleasure, Dave - Have you thought of converting it back to flint? Caplocks, in shotguns, annway, are much easier to shoot however the Flint double - what a beautifull gun they make. This small-bore would be quite special, in flint, don't you think?

 

[Dave K]

Daryl, well I beat you to it. I don't have pictures of her as a flinter, but she is flint now. I shot her a little as a perc. gun just to shoot her and I broke a 20 for 25 at trap the first time out. As a flinter I am struggling just a little. The right lock will loose spark before the left lock. Just Wed. night I put the frizzens in sand and baked them in the oven to draw out a little hardness. It seems to have made an improvement,the frizzens were just a little too hard. She looks just like 54JNOLL's gun as far as the ignition now. I am hitting with her very well at skeet though. I hope to use her this coming dove season. If not this gun, I also have an old original 12ga. SXS perc. that I have used for a couple years. :imo: No kidding, these cyl. bore barrels are made for dove hunting. ML'ing shotguns are Ml'ings best kept secret!

 

[Stumpkiller]

As a flinter I am struggling just a little.

LOL! The old chestnut about "a smoothbore can do the job of either a rifle or a shotgun." Them folks have never actually tried wing shooting. Yours is a bit more adapted to moving targets. A Bess style flint musket just does not lend itself to rolling a grouse jinking through a thicket; I'm sorry. Keep at it, I think it's a question of getting used to the different "timing" of a flint. You REALLY have to have a smooth follow-through; but the cylinder bore means you have to get the hammer(s) back and make the shot quickly. It's tough.

But I do enjoy my single-barreled percussion. I'm not sure I could figure out the two cocks to manage a follow up shot on the same bird. I'm too used to the single-selective trigger on my Ithaca/SKB SxS.

As you say, M/L shotguns are a joy.

 

Dave's William Moore, Dove Gun. It appears the GGVG posting site isn't working this morning. That's too bad as the blued breeches are striking, compared to the browned barrels. Perhaps it will work later today.

 

[54JNoll]

Wow,

20 out of 25 with a smokepole smoothbore ... even as percussion you da man ... :master:

I bet that really made the other shooters stand up and take notice though :thumbsup:

Last time I took my flinter to the skeet range I hit 50% but to be honest I did not attempt and doubles either. I found I did better trying to maintain a constant lead rather than attempt a pass through shot like I would with my Citori 20 ga. That way if lock time is slower one time and faster another I am still on target.

 

Constant lead seems to be the only way with a flinter, but with the percussion gun, I've one well with snap shooting, just as I do on upland game. Another method I use with percussion guns is the blotting out, "pull", swing-past method, but that one doesn't work in flint well either.
Tried again- there's some reason I can't publish the picture of Dave's 12 bore. He mentioned he's made doubles on doves with it several times last year. THAT's good shooting.
Daryl

 

[Dave K]

54JNOLL,naw I am not that good. Remember on a ML'er shotgun at the ML'er shoots, you shoot from the 10yd. line, because of these cyl. bores. With these bores you have to jump on them quick! Last Fri. I stood about 20ft. to the side of the trap house and right at the front edge. I was trying to simulate something like a shot you may get hunting doves. Actually it seems to be even easier this way. I seem to want to "aim" a shotgun when I stand behind the trap house. When I shoot from the side you don't have time,you point and shoot! quickly! I am shooting 2 1/2 dr. 2F Goex,(65gr. +or-) and 7/8oz. load of 7 1/2's.

 

wooooooooo nice. I guess I missed this some where but how small is the gage?
I have a couple 12s and a 20 but nothing as nice as that .I have seen a .410 in flint and that

 

[Dave K]

It is a 20ga. with 33" long barrels. The barrels are oct. to rd. as at appears. The wedding bands are worked smooth where the barrels change from oct. to rd. so the rib just sits as natural as can be. I would love to have a 14-16ga. dbl. flinter with jug choked bores someday. But, I doubt if this gun ever leaves my ownership.

 

[robinghewitt]

Small is beautiful, if slightly impractical :: I have a 40 gauge in flint, Mick Lund said it was a "specimen gun" made for a Gentleman student of taxidermy. Everything about it is tiny.

 

[Dave K]

All this talk this past week, I just had to shoot her today. Wed. because I was having a little problem with the right lock, I took the frizzens and packed them in sand, placed them in the oven at about 375

 

[musketman]

I took the frizzens and packed them in sand, placed them in the oven at about 375

 

[Dave K]

I don't know if clay will work or not. I had been watching my frizzens to see how they were wearing. They were good sparkers, but not great sparkers. I could see that they seemed a little too hard. That is why I did this to draw a little of the hardness out of them.

 

Packing in wood ashes will also work. The clay might work, but could also be a bear to remove AFTER the process is complete. It is also possible, the cracking of the clay from the quick drying process(in the oven)might increase the RATE of cooling, possibly allowing outside air to strike parts of the pieces. The process Dave used, if done with clay, might be the slowest to cool completely of all the compounds normally used, if uncracked during the process. I would assume clay's density would provide this slow cooling, but cracks would hurt this performance. A very large amount of clay would help.