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Buying A Used MuzzleLoader.

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Being near Fort Bragg (NC), pawn shops end up getting black powder guns that were pawned and lost to the owner. I've been lucky picking up unusual or custom-made muzzleloaders from the various pawn shops around here. I leave my contact info when something comes out of pawn or is purchased outright by the pawn dealer. For him it might be a guaranteed sale.

Such was the case a couple years ago, when one pawnbroker called me to come look at a trio of custom-made Hawken-style rifles he bought. When I looked at them, I recognized the maker's names on one of them, "Ted Fellows" (BeaverLodge/Spokane, WA). The second one was unsigned but accompanying that rifle were about a dozen letters and photos between the maker, John Bergmann (of Tennessee) and the original owner. That's called provenance. After bringing them home, I found the the maker's name on the third by removing the barrel from the stock to find Joe Corley's name on the bottom flat, which is customary among known gunmakers when a maker is not supplying the parts to build it. Joe was one of the gunmakers at Art Ressel's Hawken Shop in St. Louis, in the mid-1980's)

I asked the pawnbroker for the price on all three, and he quoted about $ 2K, which would put each one at about $ 650.00. For him, he was satisfied with the sale as I was. You can't know everything in any business, so for him, seeing "Ted Fellows" on one rifle and nothing on rifles two & three, meant nothing to him. He was happy doubling his money in five days. It was a good deal for me too, I doubled my money on two of the three, and have about three or four folks standing in line to buy this little "jewel" of Joe Corley's. Its likely the finest-made custom Hawken rifle out there, complete with a Ron Long lock and a .54 caliber H & H barrel. All the steel furniture is color-case hardened.

To me, paying the price of a Lyman GPR for each of the three rifles, it was worth it. Just call it the "luck of the draw" for everybody.
Corley Hawken Rifle-01.jpg
 
Being near Fort Bragg (NC), pawn shops end up getting black powder guns that were pawned and lost to the owner. I've been lucky picking up unusual or custom-made muzzleloaders from the various pawn shops around here. I leave my contact info when something comes out of pawn or is purchased outright by the pawn dealer. For him it might be a guaranteed sale.

Such was the case a couple years ago, when one pawnbroker called me to come look at a trio of custom-made Hawken-style rifles he bought. When I looked at them, I recognized the maker's names on one of them, "Ted Fellows" (BeaverLodge/Spokane, WA). The second one was unsigned but accompanying that rifle were about a dozen letters and photos between the maker, John Bergmann (of Tennessee) and the original owner. That's called provenance. After bringing them home, I found the the maker's name on the third by removing the barrel from the stock to find Joe Corley's name on the bottom flat, which is customary among known gunmakers when a maker is not supplying the parts to build it. Joe was one of the gunmakers at Art Ressel's Hawken Shop in St. Louis, in the mid-1980's)

I asked the pawnbroker for the price on all three, and he quoted about $ 2K, which would put each one at about $ 650.00. For him, he was satisfied with the sale as I was. You can't know everything in any business, so for him, seeing "Ted Fellows" on one rifle and nothing on rifles two & three, meant nothing to him. He was happy doubling his money in five days. It was a good deal for me too, I doubled my money on two of the three, and have about three or four folks standing in line to buy this little "jewel" of Joe Corley's. Its likely the finest-made custom Hawken rifle out there, complete with a Ron Long lock and a .54 caliber H & H barrel. All the steel furniture is color-case hardened.

To me, paying the price of a Lyman GPR for each of the three rifles, it was worth it. Just call it the "luck of the draw" for everybody.View attachment 9917
Buck, I'm happy to see that you are still wheeling and dealing! With Rocky now gone, I kinda lost interest in shooting for a while. I might just have to pack up my pistols and come give ya'll what for next spring at your match. Hope to see you soon. Rick
 
I'm glad that you like it Silent Walker. It's easy to see from the one up top where the style came from. Make some meat with it for me since I can't anymore. Hopefully a nice elk cow....
 
Have a couple that one would not call the riflings pristine. Cleaning patch leaves some fuzz. Spent a week tight patch polishing with fine lapping compound. Got them now to the point that patches no longer leave any fuzz and a tight patch feel is smooth and consistant the entire length. They didn't shoot terrible but could be better. I think they will be better. Once things dry up some I'll be out to give them a go. By then I'll have a new to me Zouave. Generally I never buy what I can handle and inspect. But late one night I was gawking at some auction sites jusy studying prices. Places I had never considered buying from. One had this 1975 remington ranson. Fact that it's listed on the NSSA and from studying and scrutinizing the pixs for hours and determining that it looks like unfired. Plus for its age condition I believe it has just sat in a gun case. The condition issues are such that it probably won't take 30 minutes to clean it up ready to shoot. What of the bore that can be seen shows no evidence of fouling or rust. Couple all that with the price and I just had to take this one chance. Totally out of context with how I shop. We will see come the 21st when it gets here.
 
This is the GPR barrel I had to deal with today. It cleaned up nicely with some lapping compound and a lot of other cleaners. Patches are coming out clean and borescope shows no deep pits.
Check the clean out screw is not rusting away. Mine was. Check that hammer drops in line with the nipple. Mine was bent.
20190518_112759.jpg
 
This is the GPR barrel I had to deal with today. It cleaned up nicely with some lapping compound and a lot of other cleaners. Patches are coming out clean and borescope shows no deep pits.
Check the clean out screw is not rusting away. Mine was. Check that hammer drops in line with the nipple. Mine was bent.View attachment 9956
Yeah that's about how mine looked. It doesn't shine in the grooves but is at least smooth now. If I was going to be doing some real serious shooting I would make a slug and get real aggressive with it. But for now if it shoots better then lapping is good enough. If I feel it needs more I might try hot lap. Not too worried about grooves as I am about lands. Some of my found spunt patches had tearing at the lands. Lands are good and smooth now.
 
Let us know how she shoots for you Jon. I don't remember ever firing that one. My Dad would have been so disappointed in me if I ever let a gun rust. I've worked on a lot of rusty, crusty, and neglected BP guns and some even turned out to be decent shooters.
 
It's basically an abrasive polish that's used for automotive valve grinding etc.. Removes burrs, imperfections, and rust in my case. Autosol metal polish will do the same thing. Google it.
 
@Bledfor Days So it isn't too rough on the bluing or finish of a gun? I have heard about using really fine steel wool before to remove light rust and I did do that on a shotgun I own and it seemed to be OK, but I am always up for another approach.
 
Oh sorry. I should have included that I was using it only to clean the inside of the barrel. I posted a pic above that shows the rust inside the barrel. I used a shotgun brass bristle brush with two big cleaning patches with the compound smeared on them. The bristles got into the grooves enough to remove a lot of the rust.
I went over the rust on the outside edges of the barrel with fine steel wool, alcohol, then Permablue bluing to make it purty again. It turned out ok.
1558446391578191933554.jpg
 
I got a guestion or two on lapping. It's to satisfy my curiosity and those shooting enthusiasts out there who haven't had any experience with this procedure.Is it mainly a rust remover or is used for other things also? I've heard of this lapping procedure several times before and from what I gather all or most guns don't need it. I'm hoping someone who is a little more experienced will answer.
 
Lapping is basically polishing the bore to remove burrs, light pits, wire edges on the rifling, cutter marks, etc. to make a smooth finish on the metal to keep from tearing the patch. Rust that hasn't pitted the metal can be cleaned out with oil and steel wool or a bore brush and a good shooting session.
 
It seems I sometimes go a little overboard when cutting some materials. Be it carpentry, plumbing or whatever. "Just enough" sometimes escapes me. But lapping is more of a polishing than removing isn't it? And how much of the compound do you use?
 
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