Picked up a wall hanger...

H

HillBilly Willy

New member
Picked up a wall hanger... (more pics added)

Because it amused me.

I'm not sure if it's the 200+/- year old handiwork of someone's great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather bubba (give or take a great or two), or just good old American ingenuity.

Perhaps Elmer Fudd's ancestor got the end of his barrel blown to smithereens by a carrot stuck in the end, and he cut it down to "fix" it, or it's someone making themselves a maneuverable home defense gun, or Buffalo gun, or Coach gun. You decide!

It started life as a 1700's smoothbore flintlock musket, or maybe a flintlock fowler, as near as I can tell. Anyone here care to make another guess, or a more educated guess than me? There are no markings anywhere on it. The barrel now measures 15 7/8", with a total overall length of the gun coming in at approx. 31 1/2" long.

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They added a front sight after it was cut down.

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It looks as though someone used the end of the barrel as a battering ram. The outside diameter of the barrel is about 7/8".

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I'd fix it up, charge it with buck, and stick it next to the bed. No use in having a gun you can't use. Would make a fearsome defender.
 
I don't know that it is safe to fire. I'd want to at least break it down first and check the barrel to make sure there's no damage to it anywhere.
 
Looks like scavenged parts were used to assemble it. That was not unusual back then. The buttplate looks like it came off a Bess and the lock from somewhere else. Dunno about that triggerguard (I'm away from my library right now).
 
It was on consignment at a shop that specializes in British sporting guns and accessories.

Good comments, guys. Thanks. I don't know much about flintlocks, and even less about this piece. I haven't tried taking it apart yet. Are there any additional pictures I could take that would help?
 
4V50 Gary said:
Looks like scavenged parts were used to assemble it. That was not unusual back then. The buttplate looks like it came off a Bess and the lock from somewhere else. Dunno about that triggerguard (I'm away from my library right now).
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After looking at Brown Bess butt plates, this one doesn't look anything like it. The top part is much shorter than what is on the end of the butt stock.

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You may be right about the scavenged parts though.

The butt plate isn't quite flush at the bottom.

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Here's a closer up view of the triggerguard.

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That is way too cool!

I've considered a barrel like that for my Lyman. Either a 28 ga or .54 cal from 16-20" possibly. Just seems as though it would be handy for hunting in thick stuff.
 
Yep, it's not a Bess butt plate. Let me check when I get home because the plates varied as the Bess evolved. They got simplier.
 
Hawg said:
The butt plate doesn't fit right because somebody sanded the stock down.
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If it was sanded, it was a very long time ago.

Could it be a mixmaster, and that was "close enough"? (or maybe they cut a little off the end of the butt stock?)

I tried to get the buttplate off tonight, and those screws weren't budging with out damaging the screw heads.
 
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I've got an all original P53 Enfield that was sanded down like that. A lot of people don't think about wood to metal fit when they get out sandpaper and go to work. They just want to get rid of blemishes and when they put it back together it doesn't match.
 
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