Kirkland's Guns

[TennesseeJed]

Yesterday at the Alvin York match I traded with a friend for a made in Belgium .45 halfstock. It has a single trigger (he told me it had about an 8 pound trigger pull), back-action lock, and a 30" round barrel.

Neat looking gun, anyone know anything much about them? Other than being a pre-DGW gun.

 

[Rifleman1776]

pre-DGW gun

That would make it pre-1954, possibly earlier.
Turner Kirkland imported many guns from many places over the years. Only inspecting the one you have will answer whether it is servicable. The hard trigger can be improved with a little work. How about a picture? Good luck.

 

[Tumblernotch]

You didn't say anything about that. I'd like to have seen it. I left right after the prize ceremony. Decided I didn't want to stay the night. Got home about 1:00 this morning.

 

[bowkill]

i was there and seen some nice guns, rained on and off all day.

 

[TennesseeJed]

I think right after I got it, I put it in the truck and got in line to get my targets. He had it about a month and a half ago at the Lake Cumberland longrifle show, I didn't look close enough at the time. I thought it was .50, when I looked at it yesterday and saw it was .45 I had to have it. I got that and a pile of Muzzleloader magazines from him.

A gun to play with and reading material for a year or so.

 

[hawkeye2]

I saw one in a gun store in Rockville, MD back about 77. I liked most everything about it except the brazed bolster which showed clearly as a bronze line between the bolster and the barrel. If I remember the breech/bolster was much like a Mississippi/Zouave which would mean it didn't have a back action lock.

 

[TennesseeJed]

There's no weld line on this one. It's pretty well built, the metal to wood fit isn't perfect but close. It has a wedge key but the barrel is also pinned as is the trigger. The tang bolt goes into the trigger housing. It has no particular style but there is quite a bit of drop in the stock.

 

[TennesseeJed]

Took advantage of the day off and finally got to shoot it today. I'm quite pleased with the accuracy of it. The rear sight is a big ol' V notch that I'm most likely going to replace with something more suitable for target shooting. It definitely needs a new nipple and maybe a flash guard, but other than those minor issues it's a fine little rifle. The breech plug and lock are color case hardened and is really neat looking. Though the lock plate does need some polishing.

Loaded really easy with .440 balls and .010 patches, you can seat the ball in the muzzle with thumb pressure. I'll take thicker patches next time to see if I can get the groups smaller. It has 2" more drop in the stock than a T/C Hawken, so it's not going to work all that great for an over-the-log rifle.

 

[bool01]

While this thread was from quite a while ago, I wanted to ask if you knew the thread diameter on the nipple, recently purchased a .45 kirkland belgian halfstock and I am looking to replace the original nipple. I will likely be tapping for an oversized nipple as the original threads are highly worn due to rusting.

 

[bpd303]

Track of the Wolf carries oversize nipples and the tap for them.