its alive! here is my antique

[deerstalkert]

i know very little about this double. the rifle bore is .36 and the smooth is .62.
the smooth bore starts oct at the breech and wedding bands to round
the octagon portion of the shotgun barrel is straight rifled to the wedding band.
as close as i can date it is Henry Parker died in 1840. the lock plate could have been used any time .
if it is determined this doesn't fall before 1865 throw it out!

 

[deerstalkert]

more pictures.

 

[poker]

Thats a great rifle, pre 1865 or not.

 

[TDM]

It’s very nice with lots of character. And congrats on making the first new forum post!

 

[SOLANCO]

That is obviously a danger to women, children, small dogs and the casual passerby. You can send it to me for proper disposal.

 

[deerstalkert]

That is obviously a danger to women, children, small dogs and the casual passerby. You can send it to me for proper disposal.

i will leave it to you in my will! as far as a danger to the above listed, none of them, except a woman are about the premises. and the woman is more danger than any gun!
i am going to add my 11gauge fowler. proof markings are those used prior to 1842.
i hunted this gun this fall and will have grouse for thanksgiving!
the proof marks are the Birmingham ending in 1855

 

[Stykbow]

I never get tired of looking at this gun. Something about it speaks to me.

 

[TDM]

She’s a beauty

 

[64Springer]

Everyone is resurrecting old guns.

A beautiful thing to see.

 

[deerstalkert]

I never get tired of looking at this gun. Something about it speaks to me.

it has been speaking to me lately also. "shoot me, shoot me".
i have cleaned up the bore's and they are shootable. i bought a teslong bore scope just to see what i was working with.
the part that worries me a little is the corrosion around the nipple drums. been meaning to do some math and calc how much loss there is but the two math brain cells i have remaining are not speaking to each other. so it just hangs by the bed where i can study it.

 

[Urban Coyote]

Begs the age old question, like most old guns, "what if it could talk?"

Very cool.

 

[SOLANCO]

Grouse for Thanksgiving beats the mortal hell out of turkey.

 

[deerstalkert]

Begs the age old question, like most old guns, "what if it could talk?"

Very cool.

i think it's bilingual

 

[Notchy Bob]

That double is a beauty! Thanks for showing it.

The chart of Birmingham proof marks is also much appreciated, and I'm sure it will be a useful reference.

Notchy Bob

 

[Buckskinquin]

Very interesting! When I saw the 2 barrels I expected a swivel breech, then the next picture set me straight. Am I correct in thinking you need an extension of some sort to fire the lower barrel? Anyhow, thanks for the pictures and good luck with a most interesting piece of history.

 

[babstooge]

great looking gun .what I love about older guns is the craftsmanship. thanks for leading off.

 

[deerstalkert]

Very interesting! When I saw the 2 barrels I expected a swivel breech, then the next picture set me straight. Am I correct in thinking you need an extension of some sort to fire the lower barrel? Anyhow, thanks for the pictures and good luck with a most interesting piece of history.

Quin, in the second picture, though blurry, you can see the toggle thingy i had to build to fire the lower barrel. when both nipples are capped, the rifle barrel(top) fires. they you half cock the hammer, remove the spent primer from the top nipple and the extension then will fire the lower barrel.
the inventor of this setup must have stayed up all night figuring the thing out! LOL. really ingenious.
i built a ram rod for the rifle barrel tonight and have some .300 balls that with a .o18 patch is fairly snug in the bore. tomorrow i am going to fire it with a light load. just so i can say it shoots!
there are things about the construction of the gun that suggests maybe a talented shade tree smith built it. i very much feel a kinship with him!