Picked this up ????

[Sharps1863]

I just received this today, Has anyone one on here seen one of these before or have one. The only markings are Japan and K137 stamped on the barrel. The barrel is 32" long and the 1st 7 inches are octagonal the rest is round. With my bore gage it shows to be about .66 Cal. The flint won't spark.It appears to be a kit gun.

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

They came from the manufacturer this way. The non- sparking frizzen is a sort of safety feature. If you really plan on shooting it, have it thoroughly inspected by a very skilled gunsmith with a lot of muzzleloader experience. Some of these guns were meant to be wallhangers from the outset and firing one would be very dangerous.

 

[brubincam]

-----I hope that it doesn't have a 2 piece screw together barrel-----

 

[poordevil]

Isn't that what was called the "Minute Man" gun back in the late 60's early 70's?

P.

 

[Sharps1863]

I done some internet searching and what I came up with is it does look like the Minute man Musket that was sold in the Late 60's and into the Seventys. A guy on You tube has one that he shoots. It has what looks like a 2 piece barrel but it's heavy steel barrel and looking down the inside of the barrel there is no seam or anything that suggest a 2 piece barrel it is smooth all the way down to the breech, so I don't think it is screwed together. It has never been shot. The guy I bought it from said he had never shot it, because he could never get the flint to spark. It looks like a kit gun so I think the Frizzen has never been hardened. I'm going to harden the frizzen and see if I can get a spark and maybe strap it to a tire and with a very long cord see if It will fire or blow up!!!!!! :haha: :haha:

 

[Rod Lassey]

A friend of mine had a pistol that used the same lock, I assume it came from the same company. I couldn't harden the frizzen enough to spark reliably, so I ended up half-soling the frizzen with a piece of wood saw blade.

Rod

 

[woodsman1]

Yep. I bought one of them too. I thought I was gettin a good deal on a flint smoothie musket. Boy was I wrong.

I took it home and cleaned er up real good. Dropped a .50 cal ball wrapped in aluminum foil down the tube and shined a flashlight. Bore looked like a sewer pipe. It had at least 3 distinct joints in it. I made a real tight patch and pulled it out slowly. I could actually feel the three joints as they tried to catch the patch.

As for the lock sparking, forget it. I put a new flint in, adjusted it and managed one feeble spark in three tries.

I took it to a more knowledgeable skinner than me and now has it on his wall as nothing more than a wall hanger. I broke even in the trade with him. BTW he said he likes very unusual guns.

 

[F.G. Ford]

Hi Guys,
It is really too bad that some of these look-a-like guns are out in the market for sale.
They can mame or even kill newbies to the GREAT pastime of black powder.
Sooner or later somebody will get one of these to fire :shake: :nono:
I'm not telling or suggesting anything to anybody, as we all like a bargain.
But the safest thing we can do to some of these 3piece barrels is to drive a hardened steel plug down the barrel to save somebody, perhaps many days or years from now.
Old Ford

 

[Sharps1863]

This is the one on You Tube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUThYYsGPIY

This the one of him shooting it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSx-q8nYWOs&feature=channel
This guy is in Canada. That rifle looks just like mine.
This rifle sold for $69.00 in the Seventy's!!!
I feel so old. But right now I'm going to Hi-jack my own posting. Opinions on MVTC Rifles. I have been looking at these and I like the looks of the baker rifle. Are these shoot-able?