An Absolute FIRST ..
YOU ALWAYS REMEMBER YOUR FIRST - BRASS BARREL PERCUSSION
as received -
My guess is that this was a period conversion from a Flintlock ..
- Now WHO can tell for sure whether such a gun as this was made using brass , bronze, or that particular bronze alloy called 'Gunmetal' - I read that yanks call it "Red Brass".
This is an antique six & a half inch barrel, two-stage 'cannon-barreled' - percussion pistol that measures around one foot overall length - having also a rare brass Lock-Plate. - The high use of NON-FERROUS metal suggests this gun might be a marine piece .. The 16 gauge barrel would have been loaded either with a single patched ball, or swan shot (Buck-Shot), (or a mixed "buck & ball" load) that when discharged at close ranges would be devastatingly effective.
Dropped lead 'SWAN SHOT'
Nasty Stuff
This is a 'Sidelock' Caplock Conversion? smooth bore Pistol - around 225+ y.o. with nice quality hardware - and being non-ferrous I was eager to poke-up my "endoscope" to show it's brazen intestinal beauty .. but that overpriced american-chinese lense let me down - or maybe I've still got a lot to learn on how to use it.On the hole - not as pretty as expected
I measure the bore at .657 inch, that charts as being 16 Gauge firing a patched 437 grain lead ball. - These antiques are old and they didn't always work to exact measure back then .. so if someone wants to call this pistol the slightly smaller 17 Gauge that will be fine by me.The stock wood is a bit broken and has borer holes so I will be looking at taking it apart and trying to refix & to strengthen the cracks with an epoxy resin .. plus the Nipple cone is completely fucked (a ballistic-technical term) so I will be trying to remove and replace it.
Silver Wire Inlay is interesting and a little damaged - but overall I like this piece as a workmanlike tool from the past. - What attracted me at first was that you don't get RUST on a brass gun .. but this baby does have an iron breech plug at the back end where there is some rust that will be getting the Oil of Wintergreen Oil chelation treatment.
HOWEVER .. while brass - a Copper/Zinc alloy - does not rust - it can be subject to serious loss of strength from dezincification over time, under some conditions .. such as when in water, - when exposed to ammonia, (as in urine from rodents) - and galvanic (electrolysis) reaction. - Ah, - but what about BRONZE ..? - Well many bronzes also contain zinc as well as TIN/COPPER so may be effected. - It all depends on the variables eh - so be very cautious when recommissioning any old gun.
I did ask my pc AI if bronze cannon were as strong as iron ones .. but why bother - as AI says both that it is stronger and weaker .. and that the copper alloys were much more expensive than iron - which naturally explains why cheaper percussion revolvers are made with 'brass' frames eh. Drrrrrr ..
Anyway I have spent time working with this brazen old lady - using imported Chinese 'Oily Glue' from Ali Express to repair cracked and splintered stock wood and some 13 wormholes and she's looking better now with a dressing of dark walnut stain and some furniture wax.
A bit more wax and she'll be right.
- You don't want to "go
too far" refinishing an old gun, otherwise they might look like a movie-prop .. but she's feeling better already.
I have owned and shot guns since they taught me AT SCHOOL - on the school rifle range, aged 14 in 1958.
- IT IS NOT GUNS THAT ARE DANGEROUS - IT IS UNDISCIPLINED, POORLY TAUGHT, SOCIALLY MALADJUSTED LOW IQ NUTTERS & PSYCHOPATHS THAT ARE THE PROBLEM.
Are You Fit and Proper?
Are NZ Police 'FIT AND PROPER PERSONS'?
FIREARMS LICENCES FOR NZ POLICE.
Marty K.
PS. If the Israeli-Yanks do attack Iran - all we survivors may end up trying to live off the land like these Brits from the '70's on BBC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4W00-dkBio4
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