Gun barrel ???

j-bird

Moderator
Have any of you guys ever seen an old gun barrel (on a long rifle) that was octagonal on the outside with a heptagonal (seven sided) bore? This seems really strange to me. It's on a old long rifle that I know very little about other than it was given to my grandfather from his grandfather.....I am told the gun was "made".....Not sure what exactly that means (as my grandfather has passed so details are very sketchy)....no numbers or markings on the gun what-so-ever. Percussion cap with "set/hair" trigger lock and barrel is 40+ inches long with i'm gussing either a .32 or .36 caliber bore. It's in really bad shape, so I dare not take it apart.
muzzle 2.jpg
 
No. But I will say, that sure is neat. Can you post more pictures?
 
No. But I will say, that sure is neat. Can you post more pictures?
Sure.... The gun is in terrible shape....it's damaged and used and abused. It has no real value other than the fact that it has been handed down thru the family.

Here is the lock - with the percussion hammer and the dual triggers. The crack you see goes all the way around the "wrist" of the gun...like I said...very damaged.
lock 1.jpg

Here you can see that any of the decorative parts are missing, but it was a full stock all the way to the muzzle with the ramrod being exposed for 2/3's the length.
length 1.jpg

Here the butt-stock shows the wear and the "odd" shape of the cheek piece and how narrow the "butt plate" area is as well.
stock 1.jpg
stock 2.jpg
 
Thank you, that's cool. Value, in many things, can be more than monetary. If that was passed down to me through generations I'd be thrilled. Mine's not nearly as old, and still functions perfectly. My father made it from a kit sometime in the early 70s.

sidelock.JPG
 
Check this out. It may explain the shape of the bore.

 
Cool gun. Could put it up on the wall like Kooch's. Just put up my great uncle's 97 yr old 22 over xmas.

20200205_124441.jpg
 
It will go on the wall at some point.....just trying to find some info is all. Thought I could reach a pretty wide audience with the forum....not that anybody here is as old as this gun.....
 
That yours is an old family gun makes it cool as heck even if it is too old to ever safely shoot. It looks like some type of polygonal or button rifling? It would be a very neat wall hang, is their anyone in your area that can do some minor repairs/cleanup on it to replace any missing parts and make it more solid? The history and aesthetics are way awesome.


I’ve got two old family guns as wall hangs in our family room, one is an old New York Arms Damascus twist 12ga double over our fireplace from the 1890’s and the other is an old muzzle loading shotgun that has a deer head carved in the stock, my Dad used it as a squirrel gun because it shot so tight. The muzzle loader is still functional but is a weird size just under a twenty gauge so wads have to be cut cardboard or rag. Only marking on the muzzle loader is Belgium stamped on barrel.


sNbFpi7.jpg


inQxWJp.jpg
 
That yours is an old family gun makes it cool as heck even if it is too old to ever safely shoot. It looks like some type of polygonal or button rifling? It would be a very neat wall hang, is their anyone in your area that can do some minor repairs/cleanup on it to replace any missing parts and make it more solid? The history and aesthetics are way awesome.


I’ve got two old family guns as wall hangs in our family room, one is an old New York Arms Damascus twist 12ga double over our fireplace from the 1890’s and the other is an old muzzle loading shotgun that has a deer head carved in the stock, my Dad used it as a squirrel gun because it shot so tight. The muzzle loader is still functional but is a weird size just under a twenty gauge so wads have to be cut cardboard or rag. Only marking on the muzzle loader is Belgium stamped on barrel.


sNbFpi7.jpg


inQxWJp.jpg
Part of the reason I am looking for info is to try to maybe look into replacing the missing pieces and the like....but I am not even sure what I have. I am not sure if making it more solid is really an option as the wood is very brittle and in poor condition, but once I have an idea of what I have I plan to try to look into replacing or having parts made to try to bring it back to as true to form as possible.
 
The post on the whitworth is on the right track. Not sure who all made barrels like that and I have no idea why you'd make a heptagonal. There are forums dedicated to old timey muzzleloaders. I used to be into it but never quite got into the hardcore dressup thing. Posting some pictures on one of those might get you more information. You might also try contacting Dixie Gunworks or Track of the Wolf. Once in a while, I'll look at the guns for sale on Track of the Wolf. Great high res photos and I can dream about going hunting with an old smoothbore fowler or something cool.
 
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