What did it used to be?

[Muggsy]

Here's one I'm going to throw out at this group- I found this old jalopy of a gun and it caught my attention and curiosity. It has obviously been pieced together from several old pieces to make a working gun for someone. It's been converted from flint to percussion and the barrel is stamped 1823. The lock is an odd shape, as is the stock. Barrel looks to be a .75 cal (old Bess maybe?) Maybe someone here can offer some suggestions as to what the pieces may have been. Looks like this poor boy's gun had a full life.

http://public.fotki.com/Muggsy/old_fowler/

link to photos..

Good luck.
:results:

 

[jaybeach]

To the best of my ability to recognize what it is, I'd say it's "an odd gun". :haha:

 

[lanedh]

What's that old saying, "It's a wise child that knows his own father"?

At first glance it looks like a musket barrel, butt plate and trigger assembly were salvaged and given the wooden underrib and homemade barrel band to accomodate a second hand homemade halfstock. The thing that really puzzles me is the back action lock fitted to a flint-to-percussion conversion using a drum and nipple instead of a snail breech. If the erstwhile lock was true to form, the hammer cup would line up somewhere inside the right side of the barrel, missing the nipple completely. Maybe the lock was fitted with a flat hammer to strike the nipple directly in from, and not one curved over to reach "two o'clock" on the breech.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it. Anybody want to pick it up from there?

 

First off muggsy, were you ever in the Compangie Campau, Milice De Detroit, back in the late 70's and 80's. The name sure is familiar. I think Blue Jacket has it nailed, probably built from an old military musket, into a fowler. It also apears to be rebreeched also. The odd lock shape is definately a backaction, common on a lot of old percussion shotguns, but also on some rifles.

I bought one on ebay, just lock and stock, 58 cal smothebore. The barrel appears to be old military. It's gonna be next winters project.

 

[Muggsy]

Bill, unfortunately I am not the person you are thinking of.. sorry. Thanks for the info jaybe, bluejacket & Bill. The picture was helpful- i've heard of the backaction lock, and have seen a diagram, but not a picture- sure looks like that's what was on there. Maybe i'll cut a plate to replicate the lock, throw a hammer on it, and keep it as a wall decoration. Obviously it was a real working gun for someone, and it's definitely seen better days, but it needs a good retirement home.

 

[Zonie]

I believe the back action locks were popular in the 1840-1860 time frame. These were often held on with just one screw thru the stock, and sometimes with a small wood screw at the tail of the lockplate.

Although there were some back action flintlocks, the pan and frizzen were often a part of the barrel. This barrel doesn't look like it had anything like that on it before becoming a precussion gun.

The barrel tang, the flats on the side of the barrel breech, the trigger guard and the butt plate all look military to me.
The large hole for the side drum could easily have been drilled and tapped into a old flintlock barrel.

I'm not sure about the other letter, but the P was sometimes the symbol for passing a successful Proof Test on military guns.

The stock doesn't look like anything I have seen before. Especially the large cane handle shape of the wrist.
It was probably custom made to tie the military? pieces together?

All in all, it's a very interesting old gun.
To make a wall hanger you might think about these ideas:

A replacement drum can be bought, and although it probably wouldn't fit the threads, it could be epoxied in place to fill up the hole.
If you make a cardboard or paper pattern of the lock mortice, you could make a dummy lock plate, and hammers are available in a lot of styles from the lock companys and from Dixie Gunworks.
It would just take a lot of grinding and filing on a piece of 3/32 thick steel. :thumbsup: