Chunk Gun

tiriaq said:
Loading a muzzleloading rifle can cause wear to the crown. A false muzzle is a detachable extension of the barrel and bore. The patched ball or bullet is started in the false muzzle then seated into the actual bore with a piston type plunger which aligns with the bore. The projectile is then seated onto the charge, usually with a greased wad or lube cookie separating the powder and projectile. The false muzzle not only holds the projectile in alignment, it can also initiate the engraving process. It may be sized internally to ease entry of the projectile. Wear to the crown is minimized and the projectile is started in perfect alignment with the bore. This is particularly important with an elongated bullet.
Usually a false muzzle will have a blocker which appears in the sights, to reduce the chance of the rifle being fired with the device in place.
The false muzzle will be fitted with pins which engage the barrel. The starter will fit on the false muzzle.
Often when a false muzzle is desired, holes are drilled and reamed, then a piece is cut off and the faces turned flat. The piece is then reinstalled and final reaming and rifling is performed, so that the rifling in the muzzle is exactly in sync with that in the bore.
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To me that is just wild, makes perfect sense but just wild that so much work is put into these.

Mind you the amount of money people put into 22LR guns now for long range shooting is insane to me as well.

Do you know approximately what charges these guns would use? A 50 cal for example.
 
A .45 slug gun is basically shooting 45-70, -90, etc. loads
.50 would be similar to cartridges like .50-70 and up.
Bullets are heavy, charges are serious. Pressures are right up there, higher than in most round ball guns. Watch for nipple erosion.
Shooting a slug gun is serious. Clean the bore, load carefully, set the gun up on the bench, fire the shot, wipe the bore, etc. Just moving the gun back and forth between the bench and loading station is a bit of a workout, given the weight of the gun.
Ned Robert's "The Muzzleloading Cap Lock Rifle" is an excellent reference.
 
Some information back from the guys in Friendship.

The experts there say that since it does not have iron sights it is not a "chunk gun". Due to being over 14lbs it is not a "Light Bench" gun. They believe this is what is called a "Bench" gun, it would be a round ball gun, they said that based on the pictures the false muzzle seems to be a retrofit to protect the crown rather than to align slugs.

Trying to figure out more details still but this guy only had round balls and a ton of patches, so probably only ever shot as a round ball gun by him.
 
Fox said:
Some information back from the guys in Friendship.

The experts there say that since it does not have iron sights it is not a "chunk gun". Due to being over 14lbs it is not a "Light Bench" gun. They believe this is what is called a "Bench" gun, it would be a round ball gun, they said that based on the pictures the false muzzle seems to be a retrofit to protect the crown rather than to align slugs.

Trying to figure out more details still but this guy only had round balls and a ton of patches, so probably only ever shot as a round ball gun by him.
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Aha! RB light Bench Guns forgot about those... Thanks for the update. I need to head back to the south again for awhile get some memories back.
 
Hi Fox

Your gun is almost certainly a bench gun which shot round balls. Saw lots of them back in the day at Friendship.
The lock appears to be a Siler, better photos might help.
For what it is worth I recently sold my old bench gun, built in the late 60's and very similar to yours for $800.00.
 
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