doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Old muzzleloader

I was at my mother-in-laws farm house the other day, and she asked
me if I would take this old shotgun home that had been in the base
ment since she was a little girl. She's 72, so it's been down there
awhile. Obviously it's totally unshootable, but I did however save
the locks and triggers. Once cleaned up, they are surprisingly good.
The barrels have London Twist on the rib, and what appears to be
platinum? bands just in front of the nipples. The locks themselves
have what looks like traces of gold wash on the insides. The name
on the outside of the locks is Van Wart,Son & Co. I realize that it
could probably never be restored, but I at least have some neat
parts to add to my ever growing pile. Almost forgot, the barrels
have Birmingham proofmarks. Ron

Ron, anything can be restored but the question is whether it is economically reasonable to do so. Why do you think it is "obviously unshootable" and what is wrong with the gun. Muzzleloaders are more easily restored than most other types of guns, especially if the locks and barrels can be salvaged.

Have you checked to insure the bls are not loaded, a surprisingly large number are. Several years back I "Unloaded" one for a gentleman who had it for over 40 yrs since it was given to him by his grandfather. Even after oiling the bores to slicken them up a little & pulling wads with a worm, the shot was so oxidized it was mostly just a white powder, but after dumping the powder out of a smooth flat surface, just a touch of flame & it went "Pooof". If someone had capped it, & "IF" the spark could have got through, the gun would have fired.

Why do you consider it unuseable, I have a 9 gauge ML that must have spent it's life in someone's hot attic, the wood was shrunken so badly that I at first felt it was unrestorable, but after treating the wood with oil the wood expanded slightly and the stock became useable (though the metal is still slightly proud) next I checked the barrels, after running a well-oiled brake cylinder hone up and down the barrels a few times they cleaned up well enough to shoot. My first time out with the gun I shot a pheasant with it (you could almost hear the guns "ghosts" cheering).
BTW, listen to 2-piper about the gun possibly being loaded
Steve

Rockdoc, the only reason that I consider it unshootable is that the
right barrel has two small holes in it about half way up. The ribs
have separated near the muzzle, but of course these could easily be
relaid. Overall the barrels seem solid enough. Could they be repair
ed? I know someone who is an absolute magician with a tig welder. I
will definately check tonight to make sure the barrels are'nt
loaded. Ron

Ron
My 9 gauge was originally proofed as a 10/9 gauge (each barrel was different). Over the years it was honed out to 9/8.5 with the resulting thinning of the barrels. I "safety" tested it by static firing each barrel with 6 drams of BP and 1 1/8 ounces of shot. I shoot the gun using 3 drams of BP and 1 1/8 ounces of shot (basically, a standard mid-range 12 gauge load). I believe the original working load was something like 5-6 drams BP and 1 3/4 to 2 ounces of shot, so what I shoot is not even close to what the gun was originally proofed for.
That said, you may be able to Tig weld the barrels, have them checked by a gunsmith for thinness etc and if okay to shoot use loads apprpriate to the gun (don't forget, even if the barrels are sound, you still have to worry about recoil damaging your stock, which is the main reason I shoot such light loads).
Steve

Ron,

Listen to Rockdoc. He has a lot of experience with these old muzzle loaders. Take some pictures. Would love to see the transformation, if you decide to do it.

Here are some service loads to work from. You can do the conversion with this online converter: http://www.onlineconversion.com/weight_common.htm


You can get wads and cards from CircleFly http://www.circlefly.com/

Pete

I'd just put sOme bubble gum in the holes and let her rip.

There have been many instances of guns being put back into service with holes in the barrel (half ways or more down the barrel, where the presure has weakend considerably) usually they were brazed shut and in several cases they were used as is without any problems. Several examples have been posted on this board over the last few years. I think rather then just write it off as a wall hanger, he should take it to an experienced gunsmith who specializes in doubles and let the gunsmith decide.
Steve
BTW the Dixie Gunworks catalogue has service loads for ML's posted in it (plus much other good information).