What is the BORE on that monster? I have seen them with bores up over an INCH, especially the ones with the double wedges, as yours.
I have one that I got when I was out East, a single-wedge London gun with a 46-inch barrel and Patent breech. The lock on mine is the same type as on the P-'53, P-'58 and the Sniders, but it is 'prentice-made, all hand-filed and the iron is softer than the Army locks by far. Barrel is octagonal, changing to ###agesimal (16 flats), then a wedding band and the final 3 feet are round. Bore on mine is merely 11.
When I got the critter, I was told that it was "a fine gun, Sir, a six-dollar gun!" and that I could knock down a good shot of ducks with that gun at 50 yards, even farther if I was shooting merely Turr and Puffins. The recommended load was an OUNCE of FFFg and 4-1/2 ounces of shot: DOUBLE the PROOF load! I'm a complete wimp, I know; I run it with a 12-gauge ball and 80 grains of Black. I also still have all my fingers!
The LOCK on this gun has rather an American appearance to it; it would be interesting to know what is marked inside it.
Guns of this sort were made up in large numbers and were actually available through Newfoundland merchants until after the Great War. Gawd alone knows how old the things must have been, but they were still being sold.
In rural Newfoundland, these guns had their own names. Names were based on the bore diameter in inches. A "five-eighths gun" generally was a converted American Civil War-type musket. They had a reputation for being poor shooters as they spread the shot too much: in many, the rifling hadn't been drilled out! A "slack three-quarter" generally was a musket of about .69" bore and you will run into English, Belgian, American and French ones. A "three-quarter gun" generally was an 11, but you also will find them in roughly 12 but no smaller and some run up to about 8. A "seven-eighths gun" usually is an 8 or a 6 and the "inch bore" generally a 4 or even the occasional 2. I have seen a double-4, which was truly awe-inspiring.
I also have a 56-inch barrel 10 with no buttplate and a converted Bess lock. It is from about 1820 - 1822, going by the census records. I don't shoot it: barrel is paper-thin at the muzzle! It was actually used for Whaling at one time and was ownd by the last Newfoundland pirate: a real chunk of history.
Does this gun have a Patent breech?
Could well be interesting markings under the wood.
A Truly Lovely Old Toy.
My hat is off!
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