Which way do I go now?

[smellie]

Many years ago, I had a friend out in BC who had a wonderful Toy, a 1777 Charleville which was documented to the batch which the Marquis de LaFayette brought over for the Americans at the time their Revolution started. I actually got to fire it (once) and the firing sequence of "Chick! Ffft! BOOM!" is something which has never left my memory. Indeed, an AD ("it isn't loaded, honest") almost blew my head off one evening, so the lesson was hammered in: ya gotta be safe with them. Also, being that I was a serving member of the Militia at that time, you could say that I almost became the last British casualty of the American Revolution!

Anyway it is now many years later and, as I am slowing down in my old age, I thought it might be fun to find a Charleville to play with.

A couple of years and some bucks later, it seems that there are THREE of them in the Sock Closet these days: one with French proofs, one with Liege proofs and one which proudly announces that it was built in a disused monastery in Germany.

I would like to fire the brutes in the fairly near future. Being that the iron in the barrels is not a century old, but rather TWO centuries old, it may not quite meet SAE standards. Thus, it seems that unbreeching would be desirable for inspection. The tools are available or can be made, but the question remains: is the breechplug in these critters a standard right-hand thread, as one would assume, or is the rumour mill (which says they are LEFT-hand threads), the one to heed?

In other words, guys, WHICH WAY DO I GO NOW???

 

[tiriaq]

I'm not sure removal of the plug is necessary. Clean the bore, then slide in a little penlight, shining back toward the muzzle. You will be able to see the bore surface quite well.
Unbreeching would allow inspection of the threads, of course . But if the bore is good, it is unlikely that the threads will have been rusted away. Then there is the risk of damage. A really good, properly fitting breech plug wrench would be essential, and the barrel would have to be held securely without marking it.
I would expect threads would be RH.

 

[infideleggwelder]

I`m kind of in the same boat with a R. WILSON circle fox trade gun smooth bore barrel I have, the pen light shows a barrel in fairly good shape, but can`t see the breech. thinking of investing in a bore light that attaches to the iPhone.

 

[tiriaq]

Years ago, I had a grain of wheat bulb soldered to thin wires. I would run it down the barrel and it would light up the breech face. Still have a gun I bought in the early '70s having inspected the bores this way. It is a very decent 14 bore double. Faces of the breechplugs were white.
Another trick is to ball up some aluminum foil, and roll it down. It will reflect light back up. There were even little brass cylinders with a mirror inset for bore inspection.

Most borescopes would be way too shot to inspect a musket barrel.

Breechplugs that have been untouched for centuries may be pretty solidly in place. I would worry abut damage, including twisting the plug. Soaking in Kroil might help, as might judicious use of heat. The barrel and the plug will be soft wrought iron; damage is a real possibility.

 

[tacfoley]

The borescope I bought from a certain online market place not only plugs into any modern phone, but has a cord about two metres long. If you need one longer than that, then I'd like to see the gun you are trying to inspect. It's called Nidage, comes in a mini Pelican-style case that might survive a small explosion or two, and has three handy attachments - a mirror, a teeny hook, and a rare earth magnet that is, frankly, dangerous. A few years back this little device would have cost a coupla hundred bucks - this time last year it was USD$18.50.

 

[BCRider]

I'm thinking that that old a gun would be best if the plug were left alone. You've seen lots of options for lighting up and inspecting the bore. Grain of wheat lamps are not common these days but their modern replacement, white LED's, come in a wide array of sizes and options.

 

[sean69]

IMO, a visual inspection will tell you if a barrel is completely unshootable or "looks pretty good, it's probably safe" - leaving you not much further ahead of where you are now.

if it were me:

- buy or find someone with a bore scope that can inspect it

- if it passes visual inspection, proof it.

other options would be to buy either a repro or a repro barrel.

I did a little bit of digging, found that the breech plug design was changed 3x for the different models, but no indication of how the thread was handed.

From a facebook group: "Dunno about Charleville but I know the 1842 French and Belgian 2 bands were left hand thread"

 

[H Wally]

Given the historical significance, age, and hand-made nature of the firearms - what about non-destructive inspection? There's a massive range in testing types, all of them meant to assess materials without damaging or altering them. Anywhere with industrial work being performed will have non-destructive testing companies available for work.

They may be a bit concerned or unfamiliar with wrought iron as a material, so they're likely to be quite cautious or unsure in their assessments since they're used to dealing with tight tolerance manufacturing and materials, whereas a hand forged and fitted wrought iron barrel is probably something completely new for anyone you talk to.

As long as they understood why they were doing it and your wants they would probably be happy to do it and interested in seeing them!

 

[tacfoley]

^ What he wrote.

Be prepared to part with many $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.