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.36 Cal Ducks Foot Pistol

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Joined
Sep 22, 2005
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Location
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A neighbor surprised me a few years back with this kit. He'd had it for years and never got around to building it. He knew I was into traditional muzzleloaders so he gave it to me. Its a unique gun but not something that I was too interested in so it sat here for several years. The image on the box showed it assembled with a high polish which really didn't appeal to me.

A couple days ago I decided to build it but I wanted to make it look like it had been abused, neglected and about 200 years old. Somewhere along the line the trigger pin was lost. I went to the hardware store and bought a retaining clip that fit and made a pin with it.

I cleaned up all the metal and first tried to do a forced patina on the barrels and the breech. I wasn't happy with the results. I had some Laurel Mountain Forge browning solution left from a previous build so I browned the barrels, breech, hammer and trigger. After four cardings and treatments they had a nice brown. Then I used 0000 steel wool to remove most of the brown to give it a worn, aged look.

I tarnished the brass with Birchwood Casey Brass Black and lightly brushed it with steel wool. The picture makes the brass look brighter than it is. I left it darker around the nipple to look stained with use over time. I shaped the grip and sanded it but left some rough marks and added a few gouges so it looks abused. I hand rubbed 3 coats of True Oil in with about 8 hours between coats. I used a trick that I saw in a flintlock building tutorial and spray painted it with flat black spray paint. Once that was dry I used 0000 steel wool to remove the majority of it except for what was left in the recessed areas. Then I applied two more coats of True Oil and went over it with steel wool.

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Its the only gun I own that I don't plan to shoot. Don't really care for it only having one screw going into the receiver. Not the strongest setup. I really don't want to mess with cleaning residue from the breech either.

Ducks20Foot20Pistol20and205820Conical2061020Grain20064.jpg
 
treestalker said:
Send that nasty looking dangerous thing to Treestalker postage due and I will give it a good home, polish it up and shoot the daylights out of it! :grin: George.

You...would do that...for me? I couldn't impose. :wink:
 
These were a ticking time bomb when CLASSIC ARMS CO. came out with them in the 70's and their attempt to get into the race for muzzle loading guns during the Bi-Centennial. They came out with several configurations. Smart having it and not wanting to shoot it!
 
Spikebuck said:
That's definitely a unique gun. I don't know if I'd want all three barrels going off at once on a pistol! Or is there some way, other than not loading, to have only one go off at a time?

I like the aging you did. Looks good! :hatsoff:

Thanks! All three barrels are meant to fire at the same time. I imagine the middle barrel could be fired without loading the other two. I'll have to "imagine" it because I'll never know.



horner75 said:
These were a ticking time bomb when CLASSIC ARMS CO. came out with them in the 70's and their attempt to get into the race for muzzle loading guns during the Bi-Centennial. They came out with several configurations. Smart having it and not wanting to shoot it!

Good info, thanks! That confirms my suspicions/doubts about it. :thumbsup:
 
About age 20, I had a Classic Arms Twister .36 cal pistol. I fired it a few times to see if it would go off, and it did, although as an unsighted smoothbore I didn't bother trying for accuracy.

The only time I really tried to use it for any purpose was to shoot at a bunch of blackbirds from a distance of about 100 yards. I can testify that it isn't effective against small birds at that distance. :surrender:
 

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