Do you shoot old "Originals"?

[Marplot]

Do you regularly shoot old original guns? 1700s? 1800s? Pictures?

1850s German Jaeger .54 cal.

 

[Frontier's]

1860s 32/16ga over under I shoot. Restoring an 1850s Belgium 16ga to use as well.

 

[Frontier's]

Original 1820 English 10ga fowler.

 

[pilot]

An 1850s Belgian double 12 ga I plan on turkey hunting with this spring. To heavy for much else.

 

[tenngun]

I’ve got three right now, an original Jeffrey Robinson 1994, and original Jeffrey Robinson 2001, an original Jeffrey Robinson 2017

 

[French Colonial]

Yes, original Jaeger .62 caliber that was flint and someone years ago converted it to percussion and Damascus twist smoothbores.

No pictures right now, have not finished my coffee.

 

[OldSmoky1967]

Do you regularly shoot old original guns? 1700s? 1800s? Pictures?

1850s German Jaeger .54 cal.

I do. 1840 Germany. Johannes Mond, gunsmith Augsburg.

 

[Marplot]

I do. 1840 Germany. Johannes Mond, gunsmith Augsburg.

NOW! You're talking! Wish I could find a pistol like yours.

 

[Grimord]

I do too! My Great Great Great Grandfathers .35 caliber percussion rifle from 1843. I take it out at least once a season to hunt squirrels with. the breech area is pitted due to a powder charge left in it for over 100 years, but she still shoots 1.5" groups at 35 yards.

 

[user 60625]

I have shot both of these but not often......

 

[Marplot]

1750s Swiss Jaeger .70 cal. Converted to percussion and we plan to reconvert back to flint

 

[Gtrubicon]

I do too! My Great Great Great Grandfathers .35 caliber percussion rifle from 1843. I take it out at least once a season to hunt squirrels with. the breech area is pitted due to a powder charge left in it for over 100 years, but she still shoots 1.5" groups at 35 yards.

Beautiful rifle.

 

[Splitear]

Squirrel hunting with an original English 10 bore.

 

[Pukka Bundook]

Yes,
Double flint C 1815, 19 bore.

W'm Bailes turn off 22 bore and a Smith 17 bore pistol,
(1740's and 1820's respectively)

One of the Bailes and Smith as they came...

Prichard, 1840's, etc.

Note that two of the pistols were converted to percussion.
An owner thought enough about them to have them updated to percussion, so to my mind should not be converted back.
To do so takes away a great part of their history.

Best,
R.

 

[azmntman]

I do too! My Great Great Great Grandfathers .35 caliber percussion rifle from 1843. I take it out at least once a season to hunt squirrels with. the breech area is pitted due to a powder charge left in it for over 100 years, but she still shoots 1.5" groups at 35 yards.

OH MY! thats a very very nice old rifle! Would love to find one like that in a pawn shop someday!

 

[Collie]

Here's my Springfield 1816 made in 1831 shooting buck and ball.

 

[tenngun]

I do too! My Great Great Great Grandfathers .35 caliber percussion rifle from 1843. I take it out at least once a season to hunt squirrels with. the breech area is pitted due to a powder charge left in it for over 100 years, but she still shoots 1.5" groups at 35 yards.

Man that’s so sad to see. Built by some amateur in 1843 that didn’t know the lock molding was too big and metal was always engraved

 

[Comfortably_Numb]

Depending on the condition of the gun. Yes. The oldest gun I shot on a regular basis was made in 1815.
The stuff I'm buying and shooting now dates late 1860s tp 1890s, all cartridge stuff.

 

[OldSmoky1967]

I do too! My Great Great Great Grandfathers .35 caliber percussion rifle from 1843. I take it out at least once a season to hunt squirrels with. the breech area is pitted due to a powder charge left in it for over 100 years, but she still shoots 1.5" groups at 35 yards.

I have heard of folks using a wad or some inert filler such as cornmeal to move a ball farther away from a pitted breach area to improve accuracy with no ill effects.

 

[IanH]

Yes. .32 Ohio rifle that I saved from a community theater prop department and overhauled and converted to flint:

You can see the skelp weld seam and the wrought iron grain in the re-crowned muzzle: