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Speaking of duelling pistols

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WRussell

45 Cal.
Joined
Mar 13, 2004
Messages
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I finally got around to taking some decent photos of the duelling pistol I lucked into at an auction a couple of years ago. It looked like it had been kicked around the barn for years, and it had been left loaded for long enough to etch the heck out of the breech area. Also, the wedge got stuck and someone got it out by persistent tapping.

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The cock had been replaced somewhere along the line with a pretty crude one, so I got a casting and made a new one. Got a little carried away with the curl at the top. One of these days I should get around to engraving it and aging it to match the rest of the lock. I reamed the barrel to clean up the etching.

This is the pistol that's sparking away in my avatar.


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That is a pretty gun :RO:

Have you fought any duels with it yet? I always give my opponent choice of weapons. If he chooses swords, I choose pistols ::
 
Yep, that's the ramrod that came with it.

Richards (whichever one he was - I guessing William, 1805) was not a leading maker. The fly was not well fitted; all the internals are finished to "OK" quality.

I haven't fired it since I reamed it out. It was a little dicey before because I was using a light charge and the etched area extended up past the charge, so it was hard to tell if the ball was seated or if the patch was just snagged on the etching. Should be better now - there's a little pitting still showing but there's a nice smooth surface all the way down to the breech plug now.
 
The shooting ranges around here are too much like battle zones. When I had an old quarry I could go shooting at with a few friends it was great, but now I hardly ever shoot.

So no, I don't shoot it much. A few times to bring it back to life, then just a poof or two in the garage now and then for fun. (One nice thing about flintlocks - you can shoot at home without the neighbors knowing.)

I'll bet it would make a good group. It would be fun to work up a load for it.
 
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