Any thoughts on the best way to dismount the barrel from stock to check condition under the wood?
Hi SirFrancis,
Thanks for the kind words.
The Barrels on the King's Muskets were held to the stock normally by three, but sometimes four pins that went through barrel lugs dovetailed and soldered to the bottom of the barrel, when the stock was full length as originally made. (There also was a screw that went through the forward part of the forearm and through a special heavier barrel lug to support the front sling swivel. In this case since that part of the forearm was cut off, you don't have to remove that screw. However, I wanted to mention this for those whose stock is still full length and they also need to dismount a barrel.)
For speed, economy and it seems for esthetics in the period; they just snipped/cut off the ends of the pins and filed them flush with the surface of the stock wood, when the "stockers" mounted the barrel when new. The problem with that both then and now is trying to "start" a pin to move when attempting to drive out these pins, because the ends on both sides of the stock were so heavily curved. This is why on both original and repro Brown Bess muskets, you often see the wood around the pins "wallowed out" because of the difficulty of using a flat end pin punch to drive the very rounded ends of the pins out and is a sure sign the barrel was removed sometime in the Musket's life.
The following small section of one of your pics shows the "wallowed out" wood around what appears to be the only barrel pin left and is above the rear half of the brass entry pipe.
Here is the full pic of yours from which I captured the smaller pic above,
NORMALLY what British Military Artificers/Armorers did after the finally got those gosh darned curved ended pins out, was file them flat and perpendicular to the length of the pin and very slightly chamfered the now sharp edges around the diameter of the pin, so it was easier the NEXT time someone had to drive them out and remove the barrel. So I hope that is true in the case of your musket.
HOWEVER, this is not to say there may not be another pin or two that was ADDED to what is left of the forearm, long ago when the stock was shortened. I can't see the rest of the forearm well enough to rule that out, though I don't see what appears to be another pin or two on your forearm added when they shortened the stock. So you should examine the forearm closely in case they did add one or more pins after they shortened the stock.
Once you have driven the barrel pin or pins out, then remove the "Iron Rammer" and unscrew the the screw on the tang, that is shown in this pic at the bottom of tang, and remove it vertically from the stock.
HUGELY IMPORTANT WARNING on removing that screw. You MUST have a "Turnscrew" or Screw Driver blade that fits that screw slot VERY accurately in width and at least close to the length of that screw slot, or you will bugger up that screw head even more than what was already done. One of the specialty Brownells or other Gunsmith Screwdriver Bits MAY fit it well, but if not, you will need to grind/file a screwdriver tip to match this slot.
ALSO, expect that screw to be a bit difficult to begin to turn as it may be rusted in place and/or difficult to begin to turn for other reasons.
With that screw removed, you put the hammer on half cock (to clear the percussion nipple) and turn the musket upside down and hold the barrel while you tap the rear of the stock on your thigh (while you are sitting down), so the barrel comes loose and not cause damage to the stock by hitting it on a hard surface.
Gus
