Belgian flintlock repro

[Irishmusket]

I own a Belgian made Charleville shoots ball as good no problem as good as Italian ones .And truth be known the Belgian one was subjected to Liege proof and passed !.Which means it is absolutely safe to shoot It has passed one of toughest Proof tests in the world for black powder guns .

 

[Milamber]

I just joined this forum to ID a Musket left to me by my father in law. Hawkeye ID’d it as one of these muskets. My wife remembers her father shooting it.

 

[Irishmusket]

What you have ls a Belgian made musket the side plate puts it from the early 1960s to the late 1970s when they stopped making them.16.8 on the barrel indicates caliber of your gun it is about 66 cal or 16 gauge looks like a Charleville a or was marketed as that at the time Spaceco Dixie gunworks Century arms & Stoeger arms sold these guns they were common in those days .They were made in Liege Belgium by Centaur famous for their trade muskets .My father bought me 16 gauge percussion Belgian trade musket for my 13 th birthday to take hunting and shooting on the back 40 .Still have that musket many adventures with it still in very good shape 55 years later still shoot it .Now I own 20 Belgian trade muskets flintlock and percussion .I buy them when I find them to this day.I am active gunsmith I only service traditional muzzleloaders I am still an active hunter as well I never have hunted with modern breech loaders and have been very successful at it since I was child.

 

[Milamber]

Awesome. I look forward to shooting it some after I clean it up a bit.

 

[Treestalker]

Raedwald is right they are crude affairs but they are a part of historical gun production ugly ducklings really but they are what they are & clearly while some distain them others Like' .Irish musket' has had many and thinks well of them . I made a Nigerian Foo Foo /' Dane 'gun native made flint lock( of course ) using galved water pipe . Stood proof ( In a rabbit hole ) and remains an example not many outside of West Africa . .Nice to have a Manton but such guns have their own charm .
Rudyard

I read a story years ago about an African tribal gentleman who had an old percussion musket which the story went was all tribesmen were allowed to own back in the day. He was lacking in ammo and so used an old battery post with a hell of a load of powder and shot a cape buffalo in the neck with it. I don't recall if he killed it; seems like it ran off and people were on the lookout for a very ****** off and most dangerous critter with a battery post stuck in his craw! I can just imagine a trip to the outhouse with that thing prowling around, LOL! Geo.

 

[Irishmusket]

when these muskets were made they always were not blued they were in the white or what is know as armory bright wood is usually beech with simple furniture finish nothing fancy make sure your frizzen is clean that you have the correct size flint in your case 1 inch flint thats sharp and in good condition and sparks properly But first thing make sure that it is not loaded before you do any thing .That being said if it dose not spark good sparks poorly you have to Re harden your frizzen all to common on these things

 

[Capn'D]

Hi Sneezy!! That's right it was a two-piece stock hidden by the rear barrel band. Yes, mine was about a .54 cal. too. That Ohio match set-up. :rotf: I love it!! :rotf:
I sent my frizzen to Dixie Gun Works for hardening. I think the cost was $6.50 then. Sparked better. I remember Dupont black powder was $2.00 a pound!! The paper route kept me in powder and flints. Thanks for posting. Rick.

I'm just glad to hear someone besides me was out there in those years making these things work with what they could get! In the years before the Civil War centennial, it was impossible to get anything here...no caps, flints, powder or balls. So everything was some kind of "made by necessity" item. But we had them shooting!!

 

[rickystl]

Speaking of the Civil War Centennial..............I remember back in the late 1950's and early 1960's running around the woods with my buddies wearing Blue/Grey kepi hats and carrying our Parris made toy, cork shooting muskets. LOL
Fun days.

Rick

 

[Irishmusket]

yup still living the dream 50+ years latter .the flintlock guns especially the ones with two piece locks are cantankerous to say the least poor fitting frizzens that are also poorly hardened .They can however be made to work quite well And are capable of throwing consistent good spark and long lasting (years when I was a kid when My father got me a Belgian percussion trade musket then I got a flintlock two piece lock 51 inch barrel 28 gauge . My Uncle was a welder and all around machine guy .He spent an afternoon with Me When I was kid refitted and rehardened the frizzen and low and behold it fired great no issues .Still have it and believe it or not I still hunt with it still a good working musket 50 years latter. One more note the two piece lock the only flint size that works right in these guns 3/4long by1/2 wide .

 

[Irishmusket]

As far the barrels go the barrel proofed at liege are strongest and safest barrels out there far superior to the Spanish and Italian guns including Pedersolis The muskets are crudely put together but they are rugged and safe to shoot the are general excellent shooters in the right hands Like I. Have said the almost always need tinkering with there locks the flintlocks do with a little skill and experience they shoot reliably and are actually very good shooters indeed.