Identify/fix this old SxS Percussion musket with plugged flash channels

Well, it's been bugging me constantly since I started trying to figure it out. Here are the breech plugs. The left was almost impossible to get out and ended up dismantling the entire barrel assembly due to overheating. The right plug screwed right out. I'm not to upset about that but I am pretty upset that I paid $500 for a nonfiring gun. The inside of the plug where the flash channel should be seems to have some sort of threaded rod in it. I'm thinking the indents are for a lathe now. Apperantly the barrel and it's attachments were held on with regular solder.
I am thinking now that somebody built this out of an assortment of parts and then plugged the flash channels to keep it from firing. Then made it look old. Maybe it was a prop gun but I doubt it. the barrels are threaded and have a lip in them to stop the plug. After thinking about it, the reason the right plug came out so easy was probably because the left hand had to be removed first. So that would explain why the left plug had something done to it to keep from removing it easily.
Here are the post breech plug removal pictures..

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/dms0el6m60pyrse/AACHBRQ0jpYwMeTELqD0qBqla?dl=0

Luckily I have lots of time to trial and error this thing back together.
 
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I called the shop I bought it from and am sending it back for a refund. It is certainly not from the mid 1800's as it was described when I bought it. The lock below, I believe, is a reproduction. It has patent stamped on it. What does that mean?
 

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The first US patents go back to 1790, and some early ones, after this time, were lost due to a fire. I do not see a date, only that the lockwork is patented. If a person could find the patent for that lock, you could date the gun. Patents in the UK, start after the 1500s.
 
That lock does look modern, especially the bridle. But the fact that something is marked "patented" does not always mean it was. For most of the 19th century and into the 20th, many people thought that a patent was a kind of government guarantee and anything marked with that word had to be better than a similar product not "patented." Needless to say, many products were so marked, but never came close to actually being patented.

Jim
 
Jim, it could very well be a fake patent mark, as I notice the word was engraved, and without a date or patent number, which should be included after a patent is granted. Many were guilty of doing that in the 19th century.
 
To me they appear to have been made on modern machines. They had developed standardization by the late 1800's and Machine made screws were common. however, I don't believe those locks were made on 19th century machine's. Perhaps I'm in error, but it would raise the hackles on the back of my neck.
 
Yes, the rifle was made after interchangeable parts came about, or at least some of it was. This was made when they had duplication machines, as you can tell there's not as much filing on the hand made parts of the sideplates.

It makes me wonder if that isn't an older barrel set placed on a newer stock, with newer sideplates, and was never finished, if the nipple holes were never drilled.
 
I wondered the same thing as to whether it could have been an old barrel assembly on a newer stock set. That was the first thought once I got it home but now that I got the breech plugs out I believe it to be a 20th century replica with intentionally antiqued barrels. The breech threads were identical and the breech plug threads the same. It was so crisp and identical that it looked very modern. I sent it back for a refund since the tag on it when I bought it said it was a mid 1800s gun from South Africa. It was a nice piece to be sure and if I wanted a wall hanger it would have been a nice one but I bought a gun, not a replica.. or so I thought. The manager of the store said the seller bought a lot of guns on the internet and at shows, etc so he most likely never knew this wasn't a real gun.
 
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