dpw21562 said:
The gun only has full cock position with the double set trigger, should it have a half cock position ?
That's common for the period. The rifle has to be set to be fired.
It's possible that the half cock notch could be broken but likely, it does not have one.
Have you made sure it's not loaded?
How old is the repair?
If it's real old I would probably do nothing. If it's an old repair that shows someone in the past cared enough for it to attempt a repair. Sometimes the repairs are more interesting than the rifle.
Rifles from this period have little value unless it's something special like Rich said.....
like a famous maker...
regional significance....
famous or revered owner (a family gun will only have sentimental value for that family)
Sometimes these make good shooters. I want to caution you though...it is 150 years old.
This is the time period when early steels start replacing iron as rifle barrels. Sometimes the early steels were not so good.
There have been cases where rifles barrels of this age have failed even with blank loads. In the cases I know of BP substitutes were used.
If you must shoot it, I would use light loads with real black powder only and only after I had the barrel checked by a gunsmith.
Personally,
I would not restock it. I would not use the barrel in a new stock...
It I went that far I would build a new rifle based on the old rifle using all new components built to the shape of the original.
If it was mine I would most likely keep it as it is.
But ....It's not mine.