Pennsylvania Rifle Works, 36 cal, help!!

[aOWENc]

Hey everyone!
After all the great help I received with my renegade I was hoping that somebody could answer my questions about a rifle I inherited.

The rifle is branded “Pennsylvania Rifle Works” and is a .36 caliber. My great grandma bought it for my great uncle (her son) for his 14th birthday. My uncle later passed away in an accident when he was in his mid 20s and the rifle has hung on my grandmas mantel ever since. She has since passed away at 98, and wanted me to have this rifle. Inside the patch box is a piece of paper saying happy birthday, and that she was told the rifle was made in the late 1800’s. From what I can find out about this company this appears to be true.

I would love to be able to shoot this rifle, but only if doing so meant it wouldn’t harm it in any way. It might be to far gone to shoot at all. The hammer is froze in the rear position, no matter if I pull the triggers. I have attached some photos, my uncle shot it on his birthday, but supposedly my other uncle helped him clean it afterwards (my uncle that helped him does know what he’s doing with black powder rifles so hopefully this is what happened)

What do you guys think? Try to fix it or find somebody to repair it, or let it remain as it has for years as a conversation piece?

 

[leverfred]

The bore looks good, clean it and pull the lock off and soak it to free it up. Make sure that it is not loaded first. I would do that and shoot it!

 

[aOWENc]

The bore looks good, clean it and pull the lock off and soak it to free it up. Make sure that it is not loaded first. I would do that and shoot it!

That’s great news, how does one go about disassembling one of these? My Hawken just has one big take down pin thing

 

[necchi]

Well the first thing is to make sure it's not loaded, just a simple matter of running the ramrod down the barrel, a piece of tape on the rod at the muzzle,, then hold the rod alongside the barrel in the same position to see how deep it actually went.
It should reach all the way to that drum in the breech.
It's hard to offer assistance in a case like this "on-line,, it needs to be a "hand's on" project,, know what I mean?
It should be able to be cleaned up and brought into firing condition,, but doing so would require dismantling with detailed inspection and cleaning.
Someone inexperienced could bugger things up by forcing rust seized screws, pin's or springs. There are proper ways to clean up old metal and dozens of ways to really ruin the stuff too!
A decent gunsmith should be able to help, or even someone with several years of shooting traditional ML experience.
Take it to a local smith,, talk to him,, maybe the guy will tackle it without charging an arm and a leg.

 

[leverfred]

First, take off the lock. I see your barrel is pinned to the stock. I would leave it in the stock as to not risk damage from trying to remove the pins. You can clean the barrel with it still attached to the stock. Remove the lock carefully and soak it in penetrating oil, take off the nipple and light the barrel to make sure there are no obstructions, then use Kroil in the barrel to remove the rust and let it soak rotating the barrel to get the oil everywhere, then clean it barrel. Take your time and be in no hurry, that is when mistakes are made.

 

[aOWENc]

Sounds great, thanks for all of the advice. I do live in Indiana, maybe I will take it down to Friendship this summer and someone could help me there.

 

[Artificer]

While it has been many years since I lived in Indiana, there are many NMLRA members there and some would most likely be more than willing to help you. My suggestion is to contact them and ask about the Field Representative and/or any Clubs in your area.

Monday through Friday
7:30 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. EST
Phone/Fax Numbers:
Telephone: (812) 667-5131
Toll-Free: (800) 745-1493

Gus

 

[Gene L]

Google it. I found several links. This is what I read: "The Pennsylvania Rifle Works was located in Philadelphia, owned by George and Robert Dunlap and was in operation 1837-1858."

 

[bigted]

Super old rifle. Color me green. What a true and rare opportunity to hold and tinker with such a historic weapon. Very awsome.

I too would gingerly restore it to shooting condition. Metal and wood should be brought gently back to usable condition. The wood probably needs moisture reintroduced as well as oiling to rejuvenate the dry wood. Metal is easy. Gently clean with hands only ... no power tools. Soak the screws and pins as well as springs and all moving parts in a good solution that will loosen and penetrate but not etch the metal.

Very fun looking project. I would take as much time as it takes with no rushing any part of it. Man i would love to tackle this kinda project. Cherish the journey as well as the end product. Congratulations

 

[azmntman]

Ditto Big Teds remarks. Just too cool, especially since its family. If Guns could talk.........

 

[Huntschool]

OK..... Here we go... First things first.... as others have said, check to see its not loaded.... Then, if its not;

Stepp 1..... remove lock. You did not show a good off side picture so you have either a one bolt or two lock bolt situation. I would use PB rust remover by putting it on the lock bolt holes on the lock plate itself. This can take several applications....

Stepp 2.... Soak lock in PB blaster for several days. This should break any rust in the lock itself. After it loosens up dissemble the lock and clean everything up really well.

Step 3.... Remove the barrel. If this is too much for you seek out some help. Its really not that hard. Carrying it to Friendship will not get the job done. Plug the nipple with a tooth pick and flood the bore with PB blaster and let it sit for a day or two. Then take a bronze or stiff nylon bore brush (matched to bore size) and wrap a piece of thin cotton cloth around it. Work it up and down the bore a bunch. This will clean rust from the bore. You will need a steel range rod for this with a bore guide..... You may have to do this several times depending on the severity of the rust in the bore.

Step 4.... Take trigger guard off gun and remove triggers. Soak them in PB blaster also. This should remove "goop" from the trigger system.

Step 5.... Examine the bore. You can polish what you have with some 650+ valve compound and get some pretty good results. If this fails there is always the opportunity to have the barrel freshened …….

I could go on on what to do with the wood etc but you have to decide how you want to proceed.

Just some thoughts.

 

[Griz44Mag]

What a wonderful piece of family history! And what a wonderful old rifle.
This one looks to be in pretty good shape for it's age. Take your time, not a single reason this cannot be brought back to a shootable condition so that you and your family - and future descendants, can enjoy the rifle and share the family history. Please put everything you know about the rifle and your family down on paper and keep it for the future. My family also has several treasures like this, but too much of the real history has been lost as the generations pass. The physical remains but the stories and history get lost and forgotten as the elders pass on.

 

[hanshi]

The rifle looks to be in very good condition; yes, get it into shooting shape and shoot it. The only thing I can add is 1. Don't force anything, especially screws.

2. Get a small punch to get the stock pins out; and if it gets hairy, let an expert do it.