What's the oldest shootable gonne?

[TNHillbilly]

Since this is the place where the guys who like really old stuff hang out......Anyone know what the oldest, original, surviving gonne is that's been fired in recent times? I'm wondering if any of these pristine museum pieces have ever been fired? Seeing these finds of the Elizabethan era, Jamestown, etc., just wondering. Personally, the oldest things I've shot were my 1899 and 1894 Remington shotguns. Bought cheap shells and reloaded 'em with BP. Got a half stock percussion rifle from about 1850, but the breech is too far gone to try firing.

 

[bioprof]

I saw a antique arms dealer fire an antique wheellock on the History Channel. I don't know the age, but it was probably 17th century. He really didn't know what he was doing though. I think he used a flint instead of a pyrite and filled the pan to overflowing with priming powder. :shake:

Many handgonnes are in relic condition, so probably wouldn't be safe to fire. There may be someone out there firing antique matchlocks though.

 

[Many Klatch]

I had an 1812 original 12 ga English fowler that shot quite well. Our opinion was that a gun that is used, not abused, will be better taken care of than a gun that sits above a fireplace.

I happily remember being able to shoot someones Deringer caplock shotgun at trap once. We put maybe a hundred shots through it in one day. Then the owner took it back home, cleaned it up and put it back in its case.

Many Klatch

 

[arquebus]

I have an original Japanese matchlock musket that I still haven't got ready to shoot yet, but it dates from somewhere from late 18th to mid 19th century, as best we can tell. I recently got back from the MLAIC World Championships & there were alot of original matchlocks being shot there. Matter of fact the Japanese team members are only allowed to own originals.
In addition to the matchlock, I also own/shoot a c.1850s Adams Patent .34 caliber C&B revolver, a M.1858 Amberg (Bavarian) .56 caliber rifle-musket, a Remington M.1863 (Zouave) .58 caliber rifle-musket, & a c.1890s German-made 12mm breech loading double-rifle. Actually I was out at the range with the Adams this afternoon (12gns 3Fg, .36 Wonder Wad, & a .350 RB) trying to get it tuned in for MLAIC competition.

 

[robinghewitt]

Perhaps I'd better not confess on an open forum. All it takes is two doctors to sign the committal papers and next thing you know you're locked in a padded room with ECT electrodes strapped to your head :rotf:

 

[TNHillbilly]

If I had a gun, no matter how old, and assuming it didn't have holes peeking through the barrel, I wouldn't hesitate shooting a lighter load. I mean what;s the point in having a gun you can't shoot-if only once! My old Damascus bbl shotguns had pits, shot em anyway! Put Xmas turkey on the table one year. So Squire, your among friends her, 'fess up.....what did ya' shoot. I will personally vouch for your sanity, despite numerous opinions to the contrary!

 

[HMSLion]

I'm shooting a Wogdon & Barton flint dueller that I know was made before 1807...because that's when they closed shop.

 

[benvenuto]

Robin,
I am sure you are not alone...
someone I know confessed to trying out his Manton SxS flint shotgun (with a VERY) light load
But I don't reccomend it :nono:
after a certain age these fine old weapons need admiring and polishing, not shooting

 

[robinghewitt]

someone I know confessed to trying out his Manton SxS flint shotgun (with a VERY) light load

Manton? Confessed? That's practically new. I'll be shooting my Manton at the flint clay competition next month, ounce and a quarter over 65 grains. I know he had a bad habit of filing barrels after proof but his iron is first rate.

I thought we were talking OLD :rotf:

 

[benvenuto]

hey, its 170 years older than me :blah:

 

Hmmmm, let's see there's a pair of Swedish 1867 Rolling Blocks that I like to play with now and again. One, a rifle in 12.7x44 rim, the other a 16 gauge shotgun. I handload the rounds for each.

There was an old British Snider Mark 1 that I passed a few rounds through. I think the plate was dated 1855.

Then there was an original squirrel rifle that I used as a kid, that was suppose to have a pre-US-CW barrel.

CP

 

[JV Puleo]

British "fusil" i.e. light flintlock musket* with a William & Mary cypher on the lock...about 1690? (I suspect Robin has me beat though)I know of at least one gentleman that hunts with a 17th century wheelock. I have no problem with shooting old guns and don't own any reproductions. Condition is the important thing, not age. I've shot lots of 18th and early 19th century guns.

*"fusil" or "fuzee" is one of the most mis-used terms in antique arms writing. In this case it refers to a light flintlock musket used by troops attached to the artillery where the use of "Muskets" (i.e. matchlocks) was dangerous around barrels of loose gunpowder.

 

[temple]

the british made some good military horses. there are accounts of the afghanis using original india pattern brown besses against the russians during the invasion.

 

[TNHillbilly]

'Hunting with a 17th Century wheellock'.....now that's what I'm looking for! Wish we had some video of that. I'm thinking the worst thing would be breaking an 'original' spring..though that old, no telling how many parts have been replaced over the years. I wonder how many years back they numbered each part, ala, early Lugers?

 

[Parzifal]

I regularly use both the martini henry and snider carbine I restored.

The restoring was more like a heavy cleaning of then bluing of the metal and minor stock repairs.

Both of these arms are basicly lazers in tech compared to origional matchlocks. :hatsoff:

 

[buffcreekforge]

I currently have a .75 caliber 18th century musket with a Belgian percussion conversion cut down to bbl. length of about 18" with Confederate markings on the stock (lots of old European muskets were converted to percussion and shipped to the Confederacy during the war of Northern aggression) and some tack work on the stock. My provenance on the gun is non-existent (I bought it at a local yard sale - the tacks are not square shank, but the Confederate marks are spot on), and as a result, the gun was not selling at the events I attended. I dragged it around for 4+ years, and finally decided to try it last summer. I cleaned out the nipple, put 300 grains of 2f down the bore, double balled it, tied it to a cottonwood tree with a string on the trigger and hid on the other side. When the smoke cleared, the gun was intact and I have been shooting it ever since with a load of 70 grains of 2f with very nice effect. I would guess it to be a 1760's Belgian or Dutch musket. I haven't decided if I still want to sell it now that it is a shooter. :thumbsup: