Our local County museum had a brace of brass framed/barreled flintlock turnbarrel pistols, made by Wilson. The barrels unscrewed easily by hand, & when I pointed out the accumulation of powder residue & pointed out it would eventually corrode even brass, the curator loaned them to me to clean, catalog, & preserve.
So after much scrubbing, I did get the powder residue out of the powder chamber & barrel. And yes, the barrels were corroded or otherwise scarred. When I had it cleaned, I poured the powder chamber full, tapped the butt, poured in a few more grains, & when no more would fit, weighed the charge. Would you believe 18.8 grs of FFFG? With a bore diameter of .590?
The triggerguards were set up to slide about 1/8", w/ a spring & detent to hold it at each end. Couldn't figure out what it does, but the lock action was too damaged to test. Mainspring slips off the tumblers 'cause the brass frame was peened off by innumberable hammerings by the cock so now the cock hits the pan to stop. Anyone have an idea why the t/g would slide? some kind of safety?
Incidentally, this small backwoods museum was robbed of most of its' pistols about a month ago; 2 1851 Colts, a Remington New Model Army, Colt SAA, S&W Russian plus several others. The curator had almost no info on the pistols, so tracing them was difficult, but the kid that stole them tried to sell them to a Boise gun store that did get a hit on the few serial numbers recorded. Hence the curator's ready agreement to catalog what was left. And a warning to all out there: make a complete record of your guns just in case. Include stampings and measurements as well as serial numbers. Photos help.
So after much scrubbing, I did get the powder residue out of the powder chamber & barrel. And yes, the barrels were corroded or otherwise scarred. When I had it cleaned, I poured the powder chamber full, tapped the butt, poured in a few more grains, & when no more would fit, weighed the charge. Would you believe 18.8 grs of FFFG? With a bore diameter of .590?
The triggerguards were set up to slide about 1/8", w/ a spring & detent to hold it at each end. Couldn't figure out what it does, but the lock action was too damaged to test. Mainspring slips off the tumblers 'cause the brass frame was peened off by innumberable hammerings by the cock so now the cock hits the pan to stop. Anyone have an idea why the t/g would slide? some kind of safety?
Incidentally, this small backwoods museum was robbed of most of its' pistols about a month ago; 2 1851 Colts, a Remington New Model Army, Colt SAA, S&W Russian plus several others. The curator had almost no info on the pistols, so tracing them was difficult, but the kid that stole them tried to sell them to a Boise gun store that did get a hit on the few serial numbers recorded. Hence the curator's ready agreement to catalog what was left. And a warning to all out there: make a complete record of your guns just in case. Include stampings and measurements as well as serial numbers. Photos help.
