Musket ID?

[Patched54]

Not long ago I bought this smoker from a friend. He knows nothing about it. I'm vaguely familiar with period muzzleloading rifles but cannot place either this complete rifle or any of its components. Does anyone here care to comment on what the builder of this piece might have been trying to replicate - if anything?

A few details:
Overall length 42"
Weight: 6-7 lbs.
Short (27") ,54 caliber barrel looks to be of modern origin: 7-groove rifling, round grooves
Percussion lock appears to be quite old - possibly an original. Note brass piece set into the lock beneath the drum. Why?
Heavy brass trimmings. Butt plate is a gaudy hunk of brass that's no fun on the shoulder.
No markings on metal or wood
Full length curly maple stock.
Musket cap ignition


I'm fairly certain this is a home=built by a person who borrowed ideas and parts here and there. What do you think?

Look forward to your responses.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

That's an interesting piece. The lock bolts, and the screws on the outside of the hammer, and the clean-out hole are modern, but that doesn't mean that the builder didn't do some DIY work on old parts. It looks like a re-stock of some sort, with faux striping, but done rather well. The side plate is a bit "off" but wood to metal fit is quite good. The edges of the lock mortises are rounded a tad, indicating perhaps a person who wasn't quite sure how to complete them. The butt plate looks almost like a modified schuetzen butt plate. The hammer looks a bit altered too, and the pivot hole isn't centered, again perhaps a part that was old and was modified to work. The ramrod thimbles appear to be two of the type added to later versions of 3rd Model Brown Bess, short trumpet thimble in the 2nd position, to facilitate speed loading return of the rammer, in addition to the first thimble which was a longer "trumpet".

LD

 

[Comfortably_Numb]

The lock , side plate and buttplate are off an old French gun, maybe two French guns. It was probably stocked up from old antique parts 1950 to 1970, more or less.

 

[Patched54]

LD and CN,
Many thanks for your insights. French, eh? Sure would be interesting to know what the original might have been - military or ???

The person who put this rifle together must have been an innovative and talented person. My father was building back in the 50's and although I was paying more attention to girls in those days, I believe the availability of parts was limited. So scrounging with limited sources and cobbling assorted parts makes sense. I did not show very good pictures of the brass trim. All of it looks old.

At first I thought this piece might have been a minnie ball gun, but according to what I've read, the barrel twist isn't right for that. As best I could, I tried the old turn-of-a-tight-ramrod trick and got a twist of 1:96.

When I first took this rifle apart, I suffered early symptoms of Buyer's Remorse. However, after sending a couple of balls through the woods this afternoon, I changed my mind. The attached 50-yard target certainly isn't bragging stock, but shows promise, at least for hunting purposes. ( 0.530 Hornady round ball, 70 grs Goex FFg, 0.015" pillow ticking).

Dave, I too was inclined to think fake striping at first, and possibly it is. However, when I saw the barrel channel where it had been sanded clean, I started to wonder - real or fake? See attached. What do you think? Would faux striping show up in the channel?

Thanks again.

 

[PathfinderNC]

It’s nice to see how an old timer had cobbled together a gun from various existing parts. Perhaps made out of necessity for a working firearm, or maybe just as a personal hobby. Whatever the reason, it’s a really unique gun with a great personality.
Best wishes with it