Antique Acquisition.

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tiriaq

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This one was neglected and unloved on an online auction. "Unknown percussion gun".
Knocked down @$110, so even with tax, slight commission and significant postage, under $200.
It is a Newfoundland Sealing Gun. Rode hard, but all there. Never had a buttplate or trigger guard.
46" .80 caliber barrel - about 8 ga. Quite heavy. 63" long.
These were used for shooting seabirds, seals, etc. from dories.
The lock had a dog catch safety at one time. Maybe a surplus military lock.

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Score!
Those are bigger and heavier in real life than pictures would suggest.
I’ve only seen them rusted and pitted because of the salt spray, so all things considered that’s not in bad shape.

The absent trigger guard accommodated “trigger mitts”, with finger and thumb like a glove but the other three fingers in a mitten — a Newfoundland tradition (although Europeans figured the design out independently)

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thesundaye...escue-trigger-mitts-from-extinction-1.4928652
 
I have not scrubbed out the bore, but it looks pretty dark. Haven't tried to unscrew the nipple yet, either. Lock functions properly.
The forend is cracked toward the end of the ramrod channel, but the stock is basically sound.
 
I'll scrub out the bore and pull the nipple before making any decision about whether it could be fired. Given its weight and handling, it isn't a gun I could see myself shooting much. If I want to shoot a large shotgun, I have a double 8ga that is in firing condition - although I've only shot 12ga loads out of it.
 
here are a couple now on the west coast. Mine was from Newfoundland and while the trigger guard was missing, the inletting was there for it and when I made a new guard and checked the fit while the metal was still fairly hot, I could smell the fish oil soaked in the wood :>) The gun started out as a flint lock and appears to have been crudely converted to percussion by a blacksmith. Weighs about 13 pounds and has a 52" barrel. I have shot it two or three times. It is slow to get started but you don't have to worry about follow through after firing

cheers mooncoon

 
Maybe real geek of me but it'd be serious fun to take an immersive (oilskin through wool through clinkerbuilt rowboat) hunt along the coast with one of those ^ to see if a guy could get one of those big bears on the shore.
 
Wow that's what you call a gun :)
Wouldn't fit 95% of all gun safes lol.

No doubt shipping cost would be bad.
What is the estimated age?
 
bertn said:
Wow that's what you call a gun :)
Wouldn't fit 95% of all gun safes lol.

No doubt shipping cost would be bad.
What is the estimated age?
Click to expand...

I would expect mid-19th century at the earliest. These guns remained in use well into the 20th century.
 
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