Dropped Dragoon?
- Thread starter ajbennettnc
- Start date
Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:
Sorry Dude
36 Cl.
Sorry Dude
36 Cl.
More power to you, I get like that with some things, I can't let something go to waste that still can be used somehow by someone. It's an illness.
Framing the aspects, a new cylinder which you may have their assuming they did not do something weird, and then the cost of a new gun vs a barrel replacement.
What condition is the rear frame in?
If I was setup for somethi9ng like that I would likely check it out, but considering you get a fully working gun and a spare cylinder?
Its not like its got some special value. At the least it needs a deeper check and assess. Whats been done to it is so bizarre I would not trust anything on the other end. When I was working and ran into things like that, well, like the map said Here Be Dragons.
Take the loading lever off ,chop the barrel down to the length you like , put a front sight on and call it a day.
If it were mine I would face off the breech end of the barrel to eliminate the groove and cut a new forcing cone. Next the barrel would be refitted to get the correct barrel/cylinder gap. The arbor might need shortening to do this and it would be necessary to file a step into the lower part of the barrel lug where it meets the frame where the pegs are. The result there would be the lug overlapping the water table a little but I have seen photos of original Colts that have been repaired that way. This might require some tuning of the arbor slot for the wedge to work properly.
The damage to the end of the barrel is another issue but the fix for that is very simple and obvious.
The damage to the end of the barrel is another issue but the fix for that is very simple and obvious.
OR !!!!!!!
Dress the breech end and just install a Walker cylinder! Batta Bing, Batta boom!!
Mike
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2011
- Messages
- 9,559
- Reaction score
- 4,706
Those look like forging inclusions one might see on a replica copy made in India ! The barrel seems unusually soft. I wouldn't shoot it yet.
I check comparative hardness in steel with a spring loaded prick punch by testing a known hardness sample and measuring the dimple diameters with a caliper. It's a poor mans hardness tester that won't give a Rockwell reading but will indicate comparative hardness from a flat surface. You can file a flat on the muzzle crown that needs trimmed any way and get a reading.
Ebay?
- Joined
- Jun 17, 2019
- Messages
- 8,546
- Reaction score
- 10,041
Some things defy explanation. I got an exc. M98 Krag, exc. in all respects but some idiot back in time took a tool of some sort and defaced the rifling about 1-3/4" into the muzzle. As long as there's no actual obstruction, I'll shoot it to see how it does; keep the target in case I want to sell in future; Who knows what happened to this Dragoon??
My suggestion would involve time only and not the outlay of $$ for a cylinder though that would be the simplest way out. I do have the tools to face the barrel and cut a forcing cone and crown the muzzle as well as files though most of the work could be done without those tools.
The simplest way out would be to antique it, build a shadow box and hang it on the wall.
The simplest way out would be to antique it, build a shadow box and hang it on the wall.
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2011
- Messages
- 9,559
- Reaction score
- 4,706
Try a counter bore into fresh rifling and see how it shoots. It should work as well as the insert .22 barrels (not sweat in liners) do. Counter bores don't work well when shooting black powder because of the fouling muzzle build up but you should be good with smokeless.
Interesting. What about those rifles that are "coned" which is basically a counter bore? They shoot just fine.
The cost for a cylinder alone is more than I charge for tuning and repairing any issues plus you really don't know if the cylinder is gonna need fitting and so far we haven't seen what the back end of this thing looks like.
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2011
- Messages
- 9,559
- Reaction score
- 4,706
Yeah, that would probably work as well but would look odd on a smokeless cartridge rifle where as a cylindrical counter-bore clearing the rifling back 1.5 inches would be all but un-noticeable.
