what did i just buy?!!!!!

[deerstalkert]

I, in a moment of weakness(permanant condition) bid on this rifle/shotgun combination gun. counting on someone dumber than me to save me from myself, didn't work. it is being shipped as i type.
anyway, i really have no idea as to age or pedigree. it just looked cool and did i mention i am weak willed?
i figured someone here would have an idea what, when, and who. here are the pictures!
.34x12g
if it's just a wall hanger it certainly is an interesting one. now to think of a story to tell the wife.

 

[SOLANCO]

Oh hell. Get it to a smith and make sure it is safe to shoot. That is a nice combination of capabilities your state's seasons permitting.

 

[deerstalkert]

will be a while before it gets here i suppose. i was fascinated with the action. have never seen anything like it.

 

[Bushfire]

Is it a swivel breech or under&over?

 

[deerstalkert]

appears to be a under/over with a very unique setup for firing the caps.
hope they expedite the shipping. cant wait to play with it.

 

[William Sublette]

That looks like Paints His Shirt Red's gun from Jeremiah Johnson.

 

[ord sgt]

appears to be a under/over with a very unique setup for firing the caps.
hope they expedite the shipping. cant wait to play with it.

I was looking at the action, trying to figure how the bottom barrel is fired. It appears that you have to move the rear block so the hammer will strike that. Then the block hits the cap. But that's just a guess on my part.

 

[deerstalkert]

i was thinking that there should be a captured plunger in the housing for the lower nipple. it would then be driven down onto the nipple/cap.
looking at the overall configuration when would one guess it was built? can't wait to get it into my hands!

 

[deerstalkert]

will have to watch that movie.

 

[Steel Hayes]

a 12 and .36, what more could you ask for?
I love those combination rifles.

 

[Colonial Boy]

I’ve never seen anything like it either; would seem that part of the system is missing for the under barrrel and I’m wondering how you’d select which barrel to fire.
Really interesting gun and looking forward to more posts.

 

[deerstalkert]

i agree that a part must be missing. am already rounding up my two active brain cells and designing what i think the part must be.
selection is as simple as just capping whichever barrel you want to fire. but that is just my simplistic thinking. when the thing gets here i will be better equipped to figure out its mechanism. my biggest concern is the possible condition of the bores. but there is always Bobby Hoyt,
before i sent the barrels to him though i need to identify the piece historically.

 

[waarp8nt]

I have moments of weekness too, so much so that "look what I bought you sweetheart" no longer works. After 32 years she is no longer sensitive to things I drag home.

I have a tendency to over complicate things, however I agree that some sort of captured device fires the lower barrel...possibly an inverted T or L shape. It will be interesting to see more pictures once you get the rifle in your hands.

 

[Coolhand]

The rifling looks heptagonal. Would be interesting to light up and look down that bore.

 

[deerstalkert]

when i get it i will be documenting every inch of it as if it were Raquel Welch! well maybe not quite, but it is almost as interesting.

 

[OLUT]

Neat mechanism to fire two barrels with one lock. I look forward to your further documentation. Several gunmakers tried similar configurations, but none were really a commercial success. As I collect percussion over under guns, I've got several (using various slightly different transfer mechanisms) in my collection. Typically they are not maker marked. Note that an octagon rifle barrel mounted over a round smoothbore bottom barrel is not unusual in these combination guns made after about 1850. Here's one of my transfer mechanism examples.

 

[Troyfairweather]

Cool gun

 

[deerstalkert]

this is exactly why i returned to this forum! thank you for this information. i know and knew nothing of this type of gun when i saw it on gun broker. i just couldn't pass it up!
the smooth bore barrel on this gun goes from octagon to round with a wedding ring at the transition. seeing that i figured this wasn't a kitchen table creation. at a final price of 350.00 shipped i will get more just fondling it!

 

[SOLANCO]

I have moments of weekness too, so much so that "look what I bought you sweetheart" no longer works. After 32 years she is no longer sensitive to things I drag home.

I have a tendency to over complicate things, however I agree that some sort of captured device fires the lower barrel...possibly an inverted T or L shape. It will be interesting to see more pictures once you get the rifle in your hand

My salvation has been that all firearms look alike to her.

The howitzer? Darling we have had that forever!!

 

[deerstalkert]

My salvation has been that all firearms look alike to her.

The howitzer? Darling we have had that forever!!

thats my story and i am sticking to it! 54 years and she still says i am full of it! never says what but she is sure i am full of it!