Scottish Cape Gun

[muzzlecap]

Just thought I would show a few pics of this cape gun I made a trade for this past spring. It is circa 1850 and is 50 caliber and 17 gauge. It is not in too bad of condition considering the year. There was a problem at some point with the mechanics of the left lock. So someone went to some trouble and converted the internals of the lock to a modern coil spring style. It functions very well. The bores do have some pitting but nothing that I would say is not shootable. The rifle barrel is actually very decent. 30" barrels and the gun weighs 9 pounds. The fellow I acquired it from was shooting it. The rib just says London Fine Twist. The locks say Davis. The fellow I acquired it from said it is of Scottish origin. I'm don't know if that is correct. Anyone else think it might be Scottish? It has Birmingham proofs.

 

[Dobegrant]

Can’t answer your question, but it is a very cool rifle.

 

[poker]

I had a shotgun that had a tag on it saying made in Scotland, and the proofs were birmingham. I had my doubts about that shotgun really being from Scotland, but Im certainly not an expert. Yours sure could be though.

 

[muzzlecap]

Yeah I also have a double barrel muzzleloader shotgun that has the maker's name on it that I know for sure is Scottish. It has Birmingham proofs.

 

[52Bore]

Birmingham supplied barrels & components to the guntrade across UK by the tons - to anyone.
Looks more Birmingham std quality, not a British Best. (no PT vent, number of screws in lock plate, etc.)
Enjoy it and have fun.

 

[TFoley]

Scotland did not have and still does not have a national proof house. The UK has two, one in Birmingham and one in London. The one in Dublin closed in the early years of the last century, in spite of there being some very fine gunmakers in that country, then part of the united Kingdom in total.

 

[bigted]

Does it have the possibility of being a shotgun then lined it back to 50 cal. Is it rifled or smooth?

 

[muzzlecap]

Does it have the possibility of being a shotgun then lined it back to 50 cal. Is it rifled or smooth?

It is a rifled 50 caliber barrel. It is in its original configuration.

 

[bigted]

Very fine!

 

[TFoley]

Does it have the possibility of being a shotgun then lined it back to 50 cal. Is it rifled or smooth?

The definition of a 'Cape gun' is a side-by-side long arm with two barrels - one smooth-bored for firing shot, the other rifled.

 

[VA Hawken]

Very nice! I've always been fascinated by cape gun, but sadly don't own one.

 

[muzzlecap]

Yeah, I always toyed around with the idea of adding one to the collection but never did. When the owner of this one wanted to make a trade I figured "why not". While not a perfect specimen, it is functional and shows it's character of the past 170 years.

 

[shoe303]

Very nice. Thanks for sharing.