Trying to ID this gun

[antennahead]

So this gun has hung on the wall of my parents house from before I got there. The Family lore says it was used in the Franco Prussian war in the 1800s. But I think my ancestor fought in the war and the gun was his personal hunting rifle. Does seem to match the military rifles from the war period. From what I can tell it might be early 1800s and the only mark on the gun is on the bottom of the barrel and might be Austrian. The stock is pinned to the barrel with little loops on the bottom of the barrel.

And yes that is the ball mold "pliers" hanging on the display.

 

[TheMadYankee]

So this gun has hung on the wall of my parents house from before I got there. The Family lore says it was used in the Franco Prussian war in the 1800s. But I think my ancestor fought in the war and the gun was his personal hunting rifle. Does seem to match the military rifles from the war period. From what I can tell it might be early 1800s and the only mark on the gun is on the bottom of the barrel and might be Austrian. The stock is pinned to the barrel with little loops on the bottom of the barrel.

And yes that is the ball mold "pliers" hanging on the display.

I certainly do not posses an encyclopedic knowledge of the Franco Prussian War, but that rifle does not resemble either sides main armament (a Dreyse needle rifle or a Chaesspot rifle). It looks to be from much earlier. I suppose it's possible some units were carrying older style muzzleloaders, but I think your second theory is more probable. By the 1870s, both Prussian and French armies had moved to breach loaders with conical projectiles. Perhaps some of the the more scholarly folks on here could chine in.

 

[Sam squanch]

More pictures please.

 

[Jaeger]

I agree with Mad Yankee. This is not a gun from the Franco-Prussian War, which happened in 1870.

 

[Phil Coffins]

It’s a sporting rifle for sure. Pictures in the light and to include the lock will get better responses.

 

[necchi]

Yep, take it off the wall and give us some more photo's.

 

[antennahead]

Thanks for the feed back. Definitely confirms this is a sporting rifle. Here are a few more pictures.

 

[antennahead]

 

[antennahead]

So the story goes that my dad remembered playing soldier with this when he was a kid. It was the old gun that was great grandpa's to him. Stories from the family included it being used for hunting and one story that in a tiff with great Grandpa's being used to shoot off fins of the neighbors weather vane / water pump.

From there it went to his parents house and he remembered for years that it stood in the front closet. Sometimes even used to help prop open the front door.

In the 1960s he decided to get the gun and figure out if it could be used. When he got started to break it down and check the chamber / bore etc. He found that all those years it had stood loaded at the ready. Just needed a cap to make it go boom. Sadly with the old power being in the gun for so many years it was extremely pitted. So it was decided to make it a wall piece.

I suppose with todays technology it might be possible to bore out and reline the chamber. But with the pressures and the time of firing, the modifications would be risky. Therefore it is probably best to just leave it be and enjoy its sentimental and historical value.

It is a 50 Caliber, though I have never verified it with calipers. It definitely looks to be a smooth bore. But even by todays standards the barrel wall seems very thin.

 

[andy52]

Look pretty much like any other shotgun barrel. You could get a bore hone and just smooth it up a bit and see if that helps any.