My .30 Cal (pic heavy)

[jimmiejack55]

A buddy of mine found this jewel in a LGS and paid $100 for it. The better part is that I liked it so much he gave it to me.

It came with a mold we believe to be original which throws a .30 cal round ball. They are not perfectly round, and show flaws from the mold. This thing shoots like a dream with said round ball. It has a 1 in 66 twist rate. And as you may be able to tell from the pics, it has an Indian head penny for the front sight. This one was minted between 1860 and 1909. When the breech plug is removed, that the bore is not exactly centered.

Now the hard part is that I don't know much more about it than what you see in the pictures. It has no marks on the barrel, if the lock had any they have long ago been worn off. The only marks are on the forearm plate, stamped, semicircular, and off centered "MANUFACT".

I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story. If you have any ideas, please let me know. I want to know more about this gun.

 

[wattlebuster]

I have no idea but I like it :thumbsup:

 

[house]

Sweet find! Looks like it's got a story to tell.

 

[omarick1948]

The condition of your rifle is in would make me a bit nervous on safety issues in firing it. __ That picture of the breech and drum area leads me to that comment!

By the way, a lot of old hand made barrels are off center at the breech end. Looks like it could possibly be of late 20th or early 21st Century Appalachian origin to me....? JMHO

Good friend and nice present!

Rick

 

[cynthialee]

Looks neat but you'd have to saw a few inches off the back re-breach it with a new plug and put a new drum on that barrel before I would shoot it.

Would be safer to just retire this one to over the fireplace.

 

[jimmiejack55]

Thanks for the replies everyone. It makes me happy to know there are others who also appreciate this gun as much as I do.


The pitting did not worry me much. The lighting in the picture exaggerates it a bit. My concerns with cutting it down a few inches are this; I am not aware of a competent smith to do the work, what would it to to the accuracy, and what would it do to the value of the gun.

It's mostly a wall hanger now any way, I don't have anywhere to shoot. My wife says I have too many hobbies too. Well she calls them hobbies, I call them life skills.

Thanks y'all.

 

[awebbersr]

If a barrel is cut down and not re-crowned the accuracy will be greatly affected. Can't tell from the pictures, does the stock go all the way to the barrel? :hmm:

 

[Sean Gadhar]

__ That picture of the breech and drum area leads me to that comment!

Rick

Makes me want to pull out every rifle I have & re-hit that area with a nylon brush. Sad to see a rifle get that way. I hope it was more because it was Out In The Woods and shot tons, rather then shot once & put up dirty

It's like seeing an old hound with a bad limp, you hope he got it hunting, not from a drunken kick :td:

 

[jamesthomas]

That's a nice gun for $100.00! It looks to me like a Tennessee type rifle with that curved butt plate. It took someone with some skill to put it on. If it "shoots like a dream" put some pictures up!. Btw, how thick is the barrel across the flats? and if you haven't yet go to the ALR site and post it there they will be interested in it. Also since you've debreeched it how does the inside of the bore look? it must be good since it shoots good.

 

[jimmiejack55]

I will have to get some target pics next time I take it out. First time without knowing anything about where it would shoot it did pretty good. Shot 2 inches high and 2-3 right with 24gr FFFg @ 25yds. A few slight taps and it shoot 2 high and dead center. Groups about 1 inch, but I think they could get better. My patches were a bit thick/too greasy. I shot it with thinner patches and spit lubed and could hit a stump at ~100 yds. No targets yet at that range. But pumping the charge to 30gr made the ball drop about 2 feet at that same stump.
I will post a few more pics so y'all can get a better idea of the size of it. From the shortest part of the curve in the stock butt to the front trigger is 13.5 inches. OAL of the gun is 62 inches. From the trigger guard to the brass endcap is 18 inches. Across the flats is about 1/2 inch at the breech tapering to 5/16 at the muzzle. Barrel thickness is about 0.245 inches. The bore is less than perfect with mostly minor pitting; but the rifling is cut deep with 7 lands and grooves.









Someone definately put some time into this gun. However; it seems to be pieced together. The pieces on the cheek piece appear to be nickle silver. The piece on the bottom is an oddball decorative stamped piece that looks like a scrap from something more ornate. The trigger guard and butt plate are both iron and look to be hand forged. The front of the trigger guard is square. The only other square front style I have seen is off a "North Carolina" style gun. Any way, its fun to try and learn the story.