Cheap Asian made flint lock smoothie

[zimmerstutzen]

Years ago i worked at a sporting goods store that sold 68/69 cal flintlock smooth bores. They were made in Asia. The first six to 8 inches of the barrel was octagon and and then a round smoth barrel was screwed into that, leaving an interior seam 6 to 8 inches from the breech. The guns were recalled in 1977, but not all were recovered. I just saw one offerred on an on-line auction site.

Buyer beware!

 

[CoyoteJoe]

I remember those. I was tempted to try one but for once my left brain was able to talk me out of it.

 

[ike]

I was just about to post an question about this same smoothbore. I have one that a friend gave me to see what I could learn about it. The lock is very simple. Two springs and a fly which drops the cock. There are no markings on the lock. The lettering on the barrel says 69 cal Japan 211 Black Powder only and the words ULTRA HI.
The wood is very rough, the trigger pull is very stiff. The full stock comes apart in front of the trigger guard. I have yet to figure out how to remove the front half of the wood stock. The owner assembled it from a Kit. This smoothbore has never been fired. The barrel is smooth and with a little cleaning would be bright and shiney. I can upload some pictures tomorrow if anyone is interested and I am not called into work. Your information and knowledge about thei smoothbore would be helpfull. Thanks.

 

[Billnpatti]

Send the pictures. hotoSmile: I'd love to see what you have. I remembeer the early days of the new interest in muzzleloading back in the early 60s. There was a lot of real junk on the market. I don't know how much is still out there waiting to cause some unsuspecting buyer a lot of grief.

A friend bought one of these pieces of junk from Herter's back in about 1965. Naturally, the catalog said it was the finest musket that ever saw the light of day. Everything Herter's sold was touted that way. It was very poorly built with horrible wood to metal fit. The bore of the musket was smooth.....well, it was supposed to be smooth but was very rough. Fortunately he was a machinest and was able to rig up a device to hone out the barrel. He shot it a few times and then the cock broke. He welded up the broken cock and hung it over his mantle. I don't think he ever did any more muzzleloading after that experience.

 

[Parzifal]

I had one....In fact it was my first flintlock long arm, 2 piece stock, brass furniture and that octagon - round barrel.

The lock on mine was trimmed in stamped 6's great lock very sparky.

I auctioned it off a couple years ago as I only wanted military pattern arms.

Its a shame as it was a really good little carbine!

 

[threepdr]

I had one many years ago. Workmanship was sloppy and it was very clunky. It was not a copy of any original weapon. However it sparked every time and would shoot a patched round ball very true. I traded it for a Model 1903A3. I couldn't pass on that trade!

 

[WV_Hillbilly]

Seems like I might have already spoke of this in another post... my memory is going fast :hmm:

I have one of these Ultra-Hi long guns and picked up a companion handgun also made by Ultra-Hi. Both measure .670 at the bore. The pistol has an octagon barrel and the long gun goes octagon at breech end to round at muzzle. Both are flintlock and good "sparkers".

I haven't diddled with the pistol much yet; as I am recovering from long term illness. I fired the long gun (remotely) with a double load of powder to "proof" it. BTW, the bore was smooth as glass and reflects my drop-in light like a mirror.

These are not high quality pieces, but I have went over mine piece by piece, and have it very reliable with shot and especially with PRB. I expect the pistol will need similar close attention and care.

While I wouldn't recommend these to a new shooter, they can be useful and fun to shoot. Just don't expect the quality of a well made piece. :nono:

I will try to borrow a Digital Camera and get a few pics of it, in case anyone is interested.

Be careful no matter where a gun was manufactured or whomever made it. I "proof" everything that passes my threshold... haven't blown anything yet either--which has me wondering if these things are made better than most suspect, OR I'm not putting enough of a heavy load in them for proofing...???

Regards, and shoot safely... ALWAYS!
WV_Hillbilly