19th century musket

[Braneu91]

This musket has been in the family since 1942ish and can not get it verified so this is my first online try. The date on it is 1851, but is a smooth bore musket.

 

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[releventchair]

Add a picture,. Would like clear shot of lock,(where hammer is).friend has a smoothbore family civil war piece. Lock converted from flint to percussion and shows it. Welcome to t-net!

 

[Braneu91]

 

[Braneu91]

Here is the pic of the hammer and I hope those pics work I am leaving tomorrow and cant get more.

 

[Braneu91]

We have been told it was a Zulu rifle or a Georgia Militia musket. Like I said I belive it is a .69 cal smooth bore and like you said it also could be a converted one. And thanks for the warm welcome.

 

[releventchair]

Was going to look it up in dixie gun works catalog and its not here! Think you have it named,lock looks like it was made percussion,if not good work on modification. Smoothbore versatile,gotta wipe bore during sustained shooting but good guard weapon. Powder residue ate up nipple,probably some of hammer inside. hoping others chime in,sure theres a way to date it. Good luck.

 

[NOLA_Ken]

I'm not sure what it is, but I don't think it's a Zulu gun. It's a forward lock and the Zulus I've seen are back lock guns. Also the Zulu guns are typically breechloader rifles converted to shotguns.


It's really odd the way the nipple is mounted on the barrel like that instead of having a powder drum. Reminds me of Belgian guns I've seen as well as some early American guns. Also looking at the barrel pic, it looks cut down and the front sight added (it is really far from the end of the barrel which is also odd). Is that a cut off barrel lug, or ramrod guide just past the front sight? The existing ramrod guide seems odd to me as well. I also think the stock has been cut on both ends and possibly the two lock screws have been replaced. I do see what looks like proof marks on the brass side plate, and lock plate those would help greatly in determining a country of origin.


If you can get some close ups of those proof marks I may be able to nail it down, I think I see PG in a rectangle on the side plate, but that one's not on my list. I'll keep looking though. It's a cool old gun for sure.

 

[The Rebel]

From what I see it was once a flintlock that was converted to percussion. Also looks like it was a rifle or musketoon that was made into a sportsman / civillian model.

 

[NOLA_Ken]

Ok, I did some more poking around, and I'm about 90% sure what you have is a U.S. Model 1816 Musket that was converted from flint to percussion. The brass side plate would not be original to the gun, nor would the lock screws. Yours seems to have been modified into a sporting rifle at some point in it's life and has had a lot of work done on it.

 

[Thommy]

That's a Prussian musket, converted from Flint to percussion using the "Belgian Method" by simply drilling directly into the barrel (NOLA_Ken is right). Probably had markings on the lock such as SUHL or DANZIG at one point. See if you can make anything out.