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Good deal? Opinions please

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hulk

36 Cal.
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I have the chance to purchase a "Jack Garner rifle built by Daisy Coombs" in the words of the seller. It is a .54 caliber, Lancaster style, 42" swamped barrel in super premium plus curly maple with German silver trim. It was a flintlock for 10 years and then the owner converted it to percussion. He says I can get a flintlock to change it back if I want. Said he has owned it for 25 years and it was $1,500 new back then and is offering it to me for $500. He sent me pictures but due to conflicting schedules we can't meet until next week for me to see it. I have a Pedersoli Blue Ridge flint and would like something a little nicer and if I buy this rifle, would probably change it back to flint. What do you all think? Good deal or no? Things to look for when I actually see the rifle? Thanks for your help.
 
You will spend about $150 for the replacement flint lock and the vent liner threaded the same as the drum.

You want to look for signs of corrosion. Run a patch through the barrel and feel for bulges or loose spots or tight spots for corrosion. If you have a bore scope or a good bore light to look at the bore. What does the breech look like at the nipple? What is the condition of the wood around the nipple? How does the lock function? You want smooth operation. You can make a safe nipple cap from flexible tubing so you can dry fire the gun. Does the nipple appear mushroomed due to too many dry firings without protecting the nipple. If it has set triggers, do they operate both set and unset? Does the owner have the original flintlock?

What accessories come with it? It would be nice to have a working rod, cleaning jags, ball and patches and maybe some caps.

Potentially sounds like a deal.
 
it could be a heck of a deal for you.

The parts are worth much more than $500.

However, if the person that put it together did a terrible job you might have a $200 rifle.

fleener
 
hulk said:
It was a flintlock for 10 years and then the owner converted it to percussion.
I've seen some real butcher jobs done when non-builders "convert" a rifle.
Look for glue, silicon, wood putty around the lock. look at where the "drum" for the cap conversion fit's the barrel.
Ask about what happened to the the actual flint lock that came with the rifle went,,
As fleener said, someone can turn a $1500 rifle into $200 worth of scrap in one feld swoop.
 
True. I will look for those things. It's hard to tell just from pictures. Another random, probably dumb question... in the pictures, it appears the ramrod sticks out past the barrel, maybe an inch? Could just be it was not seated all the way or not original? Or is that normal?
 
Ramrods break easily. So original or not isn't a big deal.

The extra length isn't much of a concern either. Sometimes a bit of extra length helps in setting a ball or cleaning the bore. However having the inch of ramrod extending past the muzzle will subject the ramrod tip to the muzzle blast.

You will want to run the ramrod down bore to see of the rod matches the length of the barrel to the face of the breech plug.
 
necchi said:
hulk said:
It was a flintlock for 10 years and then the owner converted it to percussion.
I've seen some real butcher jobs done when non-builders "convert" a rifle.
Look for glue, silicon, wood putty around the lock. look at where the "drum" for the cap conversion fit's the barrel.
Ask about what happened to the the actual flint lock that came with the rifle went,,
As fleener said, someone can turn a $1500 rifle into $200 worth of scrap in one feld swoop.


That would be me :redface:
 
The extra length is a non-issue. I do it with my rifles to give me something to grip when cleaning. Muzzle blast hurting the rod? :confused: Never heered of that and have never observed rod damage from it.
 
I have several rods that extend a couple of inches beyond the muzzle and also have never noticed any damage to the rod from muzzle blast.
 
it appears the ramrod sticks out past the barrel, maybe an inch? Could just be it was not seated all the way or not original? Or is that normal?

Does the ramrod stick out OR..., does the ramrod have a tapped and threaded tip, and the cleaning jag is present, and that is what's sticking out past the muzzle? :grin:

I'd inspect it and probably buy it, and if it can't be satisfactorily returned to flint..., you may have a nice caplock, OR you could resell it, no? Unless it's a real butcher-job on the conversion...

:idunno:



LD
 
That is what I was thinking too. I will ask for more details on the conversion. Apparently the owner was big into reenactment for about 30 years, so hopefully that means it was done well. From what I have read Jack Garner rifles are pretty good quality and value.
 

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