Curious about shooting antiques

BCRider

BCRider

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I'd like to play around with some black powder or early smokeless rounds but I'm a bit leery of shooting older guns if I don't know they are "shooters".

How do you folks determine an antique that should be displayed only and what is OK to shoot?

What about old true antique flintlock or early single shot persussion pistols and rifles? How can you tell which can and should be used to relive what our ancestors experienced? And what are the signs of a gun that is no longer safe to shoot? Other than price that is... :D

And what about the early percussion revolvers? Or in this case are the modern replicas a faithful reproduction of the early types?

What about the older early cartridge rifles that use the interesting lock styles that are so different from today's bolt actions? In this thread I won't even mention the obvioiusly new semi auto styles.... oops, my bad... :D

I've been looking at the antique and black powder EE section and found some that look intriguing. But I'm not interested in display queens that never "speak". If it's not OK to shoot then I'm not interested. After all these are KINETIC machines that only truly show their soul when used in the manner they were intended for.

But I'm not totally heartless. I have no desire to blow up some bit of history and possibly parts of myself if a gun is no longer servicable but otherwise is a fine display piece. But how can I tell the difference? Or do most of you shoot the antiques that are exchanged and that I'm seeing in the threads in this section?
 
Price is not a particularly good criteria in that something is worth what someone else will pay for it. As Dingus alluded to in an earlier post, a NWMP gun is worth considerably more than the same gun without the marking but because of its history not its quality.
For single shot rifles try reading the books by Frank de Haas which while out of print, you may be able to find at abebooks.com They at least give you an idea of strengths and weakness of early actions. At least part of the equation is learning what is a maximum acceptable level of pitting as well as measuring barrel thickness when shooting early shotguns. Most of them have some degree of pitting in the bore and you need a bore light to inspect the bore. Tie the gun to a car tire and fire it with a string the first shot. If you can, remove the breach plug and confirm the threads are not badly rusted and weakened.
The problem with going to a gunsmith is that very few specialize in muzzle loaders or antiques and therefore very few have real experience with the real safety of such guns. Think of the controversies that erupt on here from time to time re shooting damascus barrels. I think the bottom line is that for those of us who shoot antiques, we pays our money and takes our chances but tempered with a mixture of experience and lots of reading and looking at originals in all states of repair.

cheers mooncoon
 
^^ Good answer^^

Personally, I haven't found a gunsmith who would know enough about it to really trust his judgement. Many will simply write off a damascuss gun as unsafe, do to the hype.
Another way to assume a gun is somewhat safe, is to buy one that is being used already. At least someone has tested it for you.
 
Well...instead of a book length answer I would suggest that you do some research and talk to some of us who shoot these old rifles and muskets regularly. Don't buy any junk....obvious junk. I reguarly shoot P1853 Enfield, Snider Enfield and Martini Henry with no ill effects. I stick to safe loads and use black powder. Some tie the old rifles to a tire on a shooting bench and pull the trigger for the first shot remotely. Stay away from smokeless powders and their substitutes until you have gained some experience. Try going on to the British Militaria Forum...<http://britishmilitariaforums.yuku.com/>... and do some reading and listening. I see you are too far from me so I can't tutor you but there are a number of guys on the west coast who will gladly help. Good luck.
 
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