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Help identifying 19th century smoothbore

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xlch58

Pilgrim
Joined
Sep 25, 2017
Messages
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I bought this double barrel original smooth bore at a local gun show. It had a host of ills, but now it is just missing a hammer and I need to machine a new tumbler for it. The hammer is a basic forge a file job. The bore is also rough. It is close to a 24 gauge, but the barrels are very heavy. I suspect it might have been a double rifle at some point. I plan to make some reamers and clean and hone the barrels up. I work on a lot of originals, but this one has no makers marks on it at all. It feels Belgian to me, but I am a smith, not a historian or collector, so I don't know. Any ideas?

https://ibb.co/ceewbG
https://ibb.co/na6yqb
https://ibb.co/dAYpwG
https://ibb.co/hnShGG

Charles
 
That's certainly different alright! Don't recall ever seeing one quite like it. Since I don't see any trace of sights, I'd say it was a shotgun. Look under the barrel breech as well, sometimes proofs and
codes are stamped there!
 
Disassemble it yet? Proofs on the undersides of the barrels might yield some clues.
 
The only marks on the barrel are on the barrel next to the breech plug where you would expect the proof marks. The left barrel has the letter P stamped on the bottom, the right barrel has the letter O stamped on the top.
I did notice today when looking at the barrels again that next to the stamped letter P looks to be engraved "S W"/ The barrels attach to the cast iron wrist via a clamp that grips the dovetails on the barrel plugs. Looks a lot like percussion over and under guns I have seen. The lock plates are cast and fit tightly into the wrist casting. The metal was once well finished.

Charles
 
I would say it is not Belgian if so it would have had the Leige proof marks ,could it have been built out different gun parts ?
Feltwad
 
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