Hey folks, my name is Dan, and I found a nice rifle at the pawn shop the other day. I need some advice getting this thing up and running.
I am not sure exactly what I have, but I will call it Kentucky rifle for now. The curly Maple stock was screaming at me from across the room. The hammer was cocked back, the triggers would not move, and using the ramrod I determine that the gun was loaded or plugged. So I told the pawn shop owner it had a lot of problems and I could only buy it as a wall hanger, which I did!
Something to know, yes I am recovering from shoulder surgery, in my right arm is in a sling. so I am a little bit winged. I did manage to remove the lock and triggers and got them straightened out everything works fine there.
The bore is rusty, and a load is stuck in the barrel. It is 50 caliber. They drum and nipple are missing. I suspect someone remove them and lost them when trying to clear the barrel. After reading post on your forum, it looks like the best way to remove the load is to somehow get a zerk fitting on it and blow it out with a grease gun, which should be no problem. I do not know what threads the little drum is. There is no makers mark on the barrel, so I do not know what brands of parts there are. One other problem I have, is the front trigger is too close to the brass guard. this is a target style set trigger that must be set with the rear trigger before the front one will trip. I don't think I like this, my other guns have double set triggers and work differently. The trigger has "DRU" stamped on the side. Anyway, the simplest fix might be to replace the triggers with a single trigger or single set trigger. This looks like a rifle that was built from parts, and not a kit gun. The lock has a spot on it that is a different color, which looks like it may have been a flint lock converted to a percussion lock, and filled in with silver solder. The lock has a tiny "I" stamp in the back of it. I will post pictures, and any advice you can give me will be appreciated.
Should I first try to pull ball with a ball puller on my range rod? Should I pre-soak everything with Kroil before trying to pull the ball? Or should I go directly to the grease gun?
I will need to buy a drum and nipple anyway, and can buy a sacrificial drum if it will help.
Thank you in advance! Dan
I am not sure exactly what I have, but I will call it Kentucky rifle for now. The curly Maple stock was screaming at me from across the room. The hammer was cocked back, the triggers would not move, and using the ramrod I determine that the gun was loaded or plugged. So I told the pawn shop owner it had a lot of problems and I could only buy it as a wall hanger, which I did!
Something to know, yes I am recovering from shoulder surgery, in my right arm is in a sling. so I am a little bit winged. I did manage to remove the lock and triggers and got them straightened out everything works fine there.
The bore is rusty, and a load is stuck in the barrel. It is 50 caliber. They drum and nipple are missing. I suspect someone remove them and lost them when trying to clear the barrel. After reading post on your forum, it looks like the best way to remove the load is to somehow get a zerk fitting on it and blow it out with a grease gun, which should be no problem. I do not know what threads the little drum is. There is no makers mark on the barrel, so I do not know what brands of parts there are. One other problem I have, is the front trigger is too close to the brass guard. this is a target style set trigger that must be set with the rear trigger before the front one will trip. I don't think I like this, my other guns have double set triggers and work differently. The trigger has "DRU" stamped on the side. Anyway, the simplest fix might be to replace the triggers with a single trigger or single set trigger. This looks like a rifle that was built from parts, and not a kit gun. The lock has a spot on it that is a different color, which looks like it may have been a flint lock converted to a percussion lock, and filled in with silver solder. The lock has a tiny "I" stamp in the back of it. I will post pictures, and any advice you can give me will be appreciated.
Should I first try to pull ball with a ball puller on my range rod? Should I pre-soak everything with Kroil before trying to pull the ball? Or should I go directly to the grease gun?
I will need to buy a drum and nipple anyway, and can buy a sacrificial drum if it will help.
Thank you in advance! Dan
