Indian Brown Bess Question

[Robin Henderson]

A local SAR guy bought one that comes with the touch hole spotted but not drilled. He insists that he will be firing only blanks for their salutes. Anyone else done this and what might I encounter. Frankly, I'm not even sure it will spark as the frizzen appears to never have been struck. After looking it over, just my opinion, I'd saved my money for something a little better.

 

[Zonie]

If it were mine, the first thing I would do is to find out if the spotface was in the right place relative to the barrel.
That can be done by putting a wooden dowel or ramrod down the bore until it stops against the face of the breech plug. Then, make a mark on the dowel that is even with the muzzle of the barrel.
Remove the dowel and lay it alongside the barrel, lining up the mark with the face of the muzzle.

The lower end of the dowel must be at least slightly past the center of the spotface. If it isn't, make a mark on the barrel using a Sharpie pen or something similar, in line with the end of the dowel. The vent hole must be closer to the muzzle than the mark on the barrel. (If you are going to install a vent liner, the center of the liner should be a distance of 1/2 of the thread size + 1/32". (For a liner with a 1/4" thread, that would be equal to (.250/2) + .032 = .157 (or 5/32").

Drill at least a 1/16" hole thru the wall of the barrel at that location if no vent liner is being used. On a large bore gun like a Bess, I suggest using a 5/64 diameter drill for the vent.
If a threaded vent liner is being used, drill a 1/16" to 3/32" diameter hole at least 1/16" deep. Then, use this preliminary hole as a guide for the proper size tap drill. This small preliminary hole will keep the larger diameter tap drill from "walking" off of the right location.

 

[Robin Henderson]

Thanks Zonie. You've answered most of my questions. Although the fella said he wouldn't do it, what are your thoughts on actually shooting one of these things with a round ball? I've seen a couple of YouTube videos where they did.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

My dad bought an India made Brown Bess. We drilled the flashole and took it hunting a couple years ago for rabbits. He had all sorts of fits, so I traded guns with him...let him shoot my Pedersoli Brown Bess carbine.

After shooting his gun for a bit, the main problem was that the frizzen was poorly fitted to the pan, powder leaked out with every step. And the spark was inconsistent at best.

Once we were back home I pulled the lock, and lightened the mainspring so that the hammer was silky smooth to cock, and fell crisply against the frizzen. The gun was just shattering flints, due to the heavy heavy mainspring. Then I spent several hours filling the pan and frizzen so they mated perfectly. Last step was to reharden the frizzen,

These guns seem to be poorly made kit guns. If you don't mind working on the gun and doing a little gunsmithing, they aren't too bad. No they are not the quality of my Pedersoli, but for the price....I'd consider getting one.

Just realize, once it arrives and you get your hands on it, you'll more than likely have more of a project gun, than a functional shooter.

 

[Robin Henderson]

Rock Home Isle, did you use a case hardening compound to harden the frizzen or use some other means?