doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Hunting with Old Guns--Pinfire

The view from the top of that is fantastic. I've never seen a grotesque mask on a breechloader before - and the engraving on the short rib, the hammers, and those "fireballs" above the pin holes - just gorgeous.

I can attest to the fact that Daryl's handmade shells knock down Montana pheasants. Indeed, he is as fine of a cook as a shell maker.

Thanks Dr. Bob. I think we had fun and got full, even though we had anxiety about running out of wine.

bsteele, I had never thought of the "fireballs" , as you put it, around the firing pin holes, but surely that is what they are showing. Then maybe the gargoyle is old Lucifer himself.

I did put up another picture on the first post showing the left lock in good detail. The period seems to have been the time of the highest development in skill and art in gunmaking.

Although I don't have a picture during the hunt, here's a scan of some photos firing off the gun.

Pinfire shotguns are in a sort of limbo here in Britland at the moment if you do not use the gun at all its classed as using obsolete ammunition so there is no requirement to have a licence to possess sell or display, but if you do bring the gun into use you are required then to have it added as a working gun on your shot gun licence typical Brit laws. In view of the legal requirements the gun is far more valuable and saleable if it is kept just as a curio.
The one in my collection is Samuel Ebrall 12 bore Birmingham high end trade manufacture with locks built by Brazier though the hammers to me seem very top heavy in looks though the gun has one redeeming feature a very extended to strap.
It spent all of its working life on the marshes wildfowling the barrels are Damascus but have the remnants of �Russet Browning� this type of browning was very popular on the Brit north west coast with wildfowlers thick rust saturated with a mixture of tallow and goose fat to keep the rust at bay. The barrels are still in proof with very little pitting so it seems to have been well looked after even to the point of having a repair to the comb after some damage.

Damascus, thanks for the pictures and the "state" of the pinfire in Britain. Too bad we just can't enjoy these things everywhere for what they are. Wonderful works of art were produced with the pinfire design in England, Belgium, firstly France, other parts of the Continent, I am sure. There were even two or three pinfires produced in the U.S. but maybe not the highly finished guns that could be made overseas.

Your Ebrall is fun and part of the story. The accessories that accompanied the pinfires were fun, too. Cartridge cases, loaders, reloading tools, etc.

Do you ever see any vintage all brass pinfire shotgun shells ? I have only seen paper shells with brass heads.

Hi Daryl

To sum things up regarding pin fire in the last thirty years I have only seen two vintage pin fire cartridges both Brass and paper I have never seen any all brass versions, this is a pointer to how low in popularity pin fire truly was here in Britland.
Though I will say �I wish I did know then what I know now� because I purchased the gun at a Farm sale in the late 1960�s included in the lot where two boxes of Rosson pin fire cartridges one of the boxes I sold and the other I tried shooting pigeon with. The impetuousness of youth is my excuse looking back the value of that vintage box of cartridges would probably purchase a couple of thousand or even more today, they do say youth is wasted on the young.
Also included with the gun was a box containing some hand pin fire reloading tools and a very nice Ebony cleaning rod, I will have a look through the vast number of boxes stored in my workshop to see if I can find them and post some pictures.

Damascus, I, too, wasted some things with selling too soon. Among them about 250 vintage British gun catalogs, sold long before I had a British gun.

This gun came cased with trimmer, turnscrews, powder and shot measures, and a Geo. Jeffries patent reloader. Also had a tool for removing the forend pin [I had never seen one before]. Also included were about 40 primed, unloaded, paper/brass shells.

I'd love to see the accessories you can find.

A pinfire gun I saw (but didn't purchase) several years ago had two shells stored in the butt that had built in primer nipples so the gun could be converted to a percussion muzzle loader.
Steve

Steve, that would have been cool. Do you remember what the country of origin was ?