doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com My new to me muzzle loader partially refreshed

Here�s my 12 gauge Belgium muzzle loader after freshening it up and servicing both locks. Please remember, I purposely left nearly all the scratches, dings, and other character signs intact. I figured the old gurl had earned them! It still doesn�t have new percussion nipples installed and I need to make a ramrod. However, several board members expressed interest in my project so here she is.



The stock with its scratches and dings intact. I need to dress down the edge of the steel butt plate to fit the shrunken wood better. I think the alkanet stain, both applied as an alcohol based stain and also blended in with the first few coats of oil finish gave it a nice rich color. I was hoping I�d get a little figure showing but it didn�t happen.



The RH lock and hammer. It�s clear the barrels can use some more tidying up but that�ll be a job for later. I have removed the percussion nipples and I've cleaned out the insides of the barrels and fortunately they�re both in good shape.



The top of the gun showing both hammers and the small signature shield. Perhaps I should have JABC engraved in it in ornate lettering!

It�ll be a few weeks before I do further work on this project. Though parts are not expensive, I�m living on limited funds as of late so completion to shooting condition will have to wait.

Steve

Next time a Belgium clunker follows you home be sure it at least has platinum vents.

Did you use a feeler gauge to measure the big gap betwingst the barrel breach and the standing breach ?

That gap looks awfully big....I knew a girl in high school with a gAp that big.

When you shoot it don't you think the barrels are going to some what jumping around ?

lookin good...please do post more updates...in spite of mal content heckler....

Thanks for the useful information jOe. You're right, and the gap is bothersome to me too but it does appear to be locking together pretty tight otherwise. I'll look into it some more before and after I finally shoot it. I think we've all known girls with gaps that big

Why are platinum vents important?

Steve

So when you scrap it you can sell the platinum and recoup some of your loss....

jOe, I was afraid you'd say that. Ah well, at least you're predictable. So, I know that at one time you were a muzzle loading enthusiast and that you're knowledgeable about muzzle loaders so please tell me, why did they install platinum vents on so many of those old muzzle loaders?

Steve

The vents were put there because they thought they drew air and gave the gun a faster more powerful ignition....and the only material that could hold up was platinum.

The blow out plugs were not always vented, however. I have read that piercing them was typical of the 1840. Seems to fit with the ages of the originals that I own.

They were not blow out plugs.

jOe,

Thanks, what you say about the platinum plugs providing better ignition would make sense to a mid-1800�s gun maker mainly familiar with flintlocks. I�m not saying that it actually did provide better ignition, but as you mentioned, they thought it provided faster more powerful ignition since it emulated the touch hole on the flintlock system.

I realize this old smoke pole ain�t no London Best, but I think it�s a damn worthy hardware store gun and should be fun and safe to shoot and that�s all I care about. I figure my service work will cost me about $40 total. It's worth $40 just for the enjoyment I've gotten from tinkering with the old gun.

Steve