Need Help IDing Rifle

[jdmae86]

So I have been helping my future wife's grandfather out with pricing a bunch of firearms he has had since he was young(about 75yrs old now). I didnt have any problems with his other items but this one.... There are no manufacturing markings that I can see. The only numbers I can find on the rifle is the number 37 which is on all the major pieces & the number 68 or 89 on the bayonet. I believe the rifle is all original bc the number 37 is on the butt stock plate & bottom/side of the trigger.

Any help would be awesome... I have looked at some many pictures online & cant find anything that looks similar. Thanks in advance...

bayonet

 

[Zonie]

The trigger guard has an Austrian flavor to it.
Very similar guards are seen on several different rifles from that country.

 

[flintlock75]

It looks like an Austrian Lorenz Rifle, they were imported into the us during the civil war. I cant tell if it has a ramrod or not, the lorenz used a seperatly carried rod, not under the barrel as most ML had.

 

[Va.Manuf.06]

It is definitely Austrian but we need to know caliber and barrel length to give a firm ID.

 

[jdmae86]

I will try to get some measurements today if the owner has the time... thanks!

 

[Tumblernotch]

Austrian Jaeger. Probably 1830's, not sure of model year. It appears to have been converted from flint. The pan recess in the lock looks to have been filled and a cone-in-barrel conversion done. True percussion Austrians had a fairly large bolster.

 

[JV Puleo]

A very interesting point that I completely missed. Its obviously a converted Austrian musket/rifle but that conversion is quite unusual... they are also called "Belgian Conversions" which is what I think our Ordnance Department called the process. The hammer with the long spur pointing straight up is also seen on lots of Belgian guns so I'd guess this is an Austrian flintlock converted in Belgium and sold on the surplus market for export during the CW. Interesting because most of the Austrian conversions that came here were purchased directly from the Austrians and have their conversion with the big heavy bolster.

And now that I think of it... I have the wreck of one of these in the basement. It was my 2nd antique gun, purchased as a birthday present by my mother on Cape Cod around 1964.