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What perc. SxS did I see today?

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At a local gun show I saw an interesting double gun today. Condition was rather poor, though the stock was sound. Engraving was visible although worn, and there was some significant old rust over much of the metal. Both locks were marked "P. CHAPLAIN." In a quick google search I found a gun that looks IDENTICAL except for two things: the name on the lock, and the one I saw had a small cap box inlet on the right hand side of the stock. http://www.1898andb-4.com/products.php?catid=43&category=Percussion+Shotguns

The gun I saw was the same gun, in worse condition, but the same one right down to the engraving style and upon a close look I could see "London fine twist" between the barrels. It had the same silverish bands at the breech, checkering, etc.

It was priced very low but what prevented me from picking it up just for fun was damage on the bottom of one of the barrels that punctured through to the bore, as if someone had stabbed it with a knife. I don't know if that kind of damage is repairable on a Damascus barrel or not.

Why would two otherwise identical shotguns have different maker's names on the locks? Is this a common style of gun?
 
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Good questions!

My opinion, and its no more than that--worth exactly what you paid for it, although SxS are my area of interest is:

The Hollis gun was made under contract in Belgium, as was often done. It's not a "best gun", but it's probably a well made gun. The engraving style is very typical, that is lots of guns of good to quite good quality would have had very similar engraving (London, Liege). Some Belgian guns are very well made some not. A good one is a great shooter, but they are not very "collectable."

I'm guessing the gun you saw was also a Belgian made gun (in less good condition). Hence the similarity on a number of counts. (Be hard to find a good gunsmith willing to risk fixing Twist barrels with a hole in the bore.
 
IMO, you were wise to save your money on the shotgun.
To the best of my knowledge, there is no way to repair a punctured Damascus barrel unless the damaged part (and the other barrel) is cut off.

Also, although there are many Damascus barrels that are safe to shoot they must be fully inspected to be sure the welds are not failing.
 
It sounds like a seam in the damascus barrel has rusted clean through. It is has rusted that much in one spot, I would not trust the integrity of the barrel anywhere else. I have read of damascus barrels on breech loaders being sleeved will modern steel tubes to a smaller gauge. I don't know if this could be done on a muzzleloader or not :confused:
Maybe someone on the forum would know. That is the only way that I would try using the gun.
 
Thanks for the insight, guys. I don't feel so bad about not buying it now. The guy probably would have taken $80 for it.

There was a lot of rust on the barrels, but not so much that it would be rusted through. The hole in the bore was definitely some kind of strike mark, like it was dropped on a leaning axe head or something like that.
 
If your not a builder you probably did the best thing by skipping the gun but if you were interested in building a gun, the locks on some of these would work quite well for either a half-stock or a full-stock rifle in the 1830-1860 time frame.

The only bad thing about them is getting parts for them if something like a mainspring breaks can be challenging.
 
You know, I didn't even think of that. I am an aspiring builder and the locks both seemed to function fine. Maybe he'll have it at the next show... :thumbsup:
 

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