Help ID a muzzloader

[Atomic Dog]

Okay gang, i've finally become interested enough to post this. We have a muzzleloader that has been passed down through the family on my mother-in-law's side. The only thing we know about it was that it came over from England about 20 years ago with our great Aunt Sally. The carried it right on the plane and stowed it in the overhead bin. (try that today and let us know how the cavity search turns out.) I'm in the process of taking pictures but until then I'll just describe it the best I can.


It is either .45 or .50 cal, with a 32.5" octagonal barrel. Sparsely decorated which leads me to believe it was a kit of some kind or a lower quality item. on the top of the barrel it is marked J. Caswili and is worn almost ineligible. Barrel is about an inch thick and is very heavy. It uses a percussion cap on the underside of the rifle with the hammer directly linked to the trigger. It has a VERY light pull and has a screw to adjust if needed. The sights are standard with the front (brass) drifted poorly leaving some marks in the barrel. They are very fine and look to have good accuracy. I am tempted to think it was a target rifle of some kind due to the features. There is a patch box on the right side of the stock, and underneath you can see that it was drilled with three passes of a 3/4" drill bit. The rest of the features are all brass.


pics are on the way but any help is appreciated. Even if it turns out to be junk it's a piece of family history.

[Atomic Dog]

[Ppsh41]

The rifle looks like an underhammer rifle made just before and after the Civil War and primary from Upstate New York. I've seen some rifles similar to yours at gun shows from $400-900. Not much information, but its a start.

[Atomic Dog]

I have to say, after doing more research on these I'm strongly considering a muzzleloader. I spent a long while holding it last night, thinking of who may have used it and for what purpose. Felling the weight in my hands and trying to imagine the feelings of carrying that to protect and feed my family.


I was humbled, and honored to hold it in my hands.

[PA Rifleman]

We used to call them Buggy Guns, I don't know where they got the name. The obvious advantage is the sight plane remains uncluttered from the hammer and lock parts. The drawback is that it's probably limited to percussion, and it would require a tighter fitting cap.

As far as the provenance of your example, it'll take a little homework to ID the maker and approximate date. If it helps, the percussion became mainstream circa 1820 and rifles were mostly single-shot like yours until at least the late 1860s through the early 1870s. From the curved wrist area, I suspect it's a copy of an early Hopkins & Allen design. Inexpensive foreign copies (often unlicensed) were the bane in those days, which may explain the arcane name.

Hopkins & Allen made underhammer repro kits for years, Numrich still sells parts for them. You can still get new production underhammer guns here:
http://www.underhammers.com/

And Hopkins & Allen kits at:
http://muzzleloader.biz/muzzleloaderkits.htm#Hopkins

More info:
http://www.gunsamerica.com/976956498...nderhammer.htm
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...er&btnG=Search
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...er&btnG=Search

As far as shooting, please consider buying a modern repro if for no other reason, safety. The metallurgy in repros is far better than the originals, particularly the 18th c guns (your rifle is 19th c). I will warn you that it's extremely habit forming, as you get to support your own habit by loading your own rounds, and a lot of black powder shooters cast their own bullets. Some flintlock shooters have managed to completely support their own habit by knapping their own flints and making their own powder.

It can really fan the flames of the survivalist streak in a lot of us, and big rifled bores have appeal too.

I've posted these enlarging pictures before, but they're still germane. Here's a 69 caliber rifled musket, and a 58 caliber for size comparison, and a spent 69 caliber bullet:

[Atomic Dog]

would require a tighter fitting cap.

It actually had a little "cup" that holds the petals of the cap nice and tight. Not a bad design.

Inexpensive foreign copies

Considering that it came from England, that makes perfect sense.

As far as shooting, please consider buying a modern repro if for no other reason, safety.

There is no way in heck I am going to fire this thing! The nipple is bent, the bore doesn't look too good, and I value it too much to risk a KB.



Thank you VERY much for the info. Each step leads me closer and gets me much more interested in the history.

[P-11 shooter]

I can just picture a little old english lady with a muzzleloader getting on a plane. Aunt Sally ROCKS!

[nijwnfi]

If your up for a road trip you may want to check out Dixons Muzzleloading in Kempton. I don't have the exact info, but you can Google it. They're about 10-15min from Cabelas, you can kill 2 birds with 1 stone. Definitely check on their hours first.

[P89]

I have to say, after doing more research on these I'm strongly considering a muzzleloader. I spent a long while holding it last night, thinking of who may have used it and for what purpose. Felling the weight in my hands and trying to imagine the feelings of carrying that to protect and feed my family.


I was humbled, and honored to hold it in my hands.

Isn't that a great feeling...history in your hand.
When I get around to a group shoot I'm bringing some blackpower firearms and corrupt you all, or just confuse.

[P-11 shooter]

Maybe we can run the house "alamo style" one guy shooting and 3 guys loading rifles.