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Joined: Nov 2015
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Hal Offline
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The hinge pin as a slot so it must be threaded. Just seems so small! Looks like it has not been moved. I put a drop of Fluid-Film on both while I wait for friend to bring over his turnscrews. Will give both a couple very light taps before applying any force.

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Hal Offline
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Only the front screw needs to come out. Not a bit of rust inside! I can't see well, so let me know if more pics are needed. I don't know what the small screw near the lever bold does. Could be to adjust lever tension when closed? Nice to see a serial number. Now for the bores.

[img][IMG]https://www.jpgbox.com/jpg/63445_600x400.jpg[/img][/img]

[img]http://[IMG]https://www.jpgbox.com/jpg/63446_600x400.jpg[/img][/img]


[i[img]http://[IMG]https://www.jpgbox.com/jpg/63448_600x400.jpg[/img][/img]


mg]http://[Linked Image from jpgbox.com][/img]


[img]http://[IMG]https://www.jpgbox.com/jpg/63449_600x400.jpg[/img][/img]

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That's great news, Hal. Your pictures are great. Unfortunately I can't help with the revealed maker's or actioner's marks, someone with more knowledge of Belgian marks might offer some light.

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Hmm. Masquerading as an earlier style! I thought for sure you were going to have to remove the pin.

Based on the proofs it was made sometime over a 40-year period after 1853 or so.


Clock Guns, Pauly Guns, Pinfire Guns and Pinfire Cartridges
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Hal Offline
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Thanks. Now that we know it likely is a low-grade Belgian, I am curious about the steel used for the frame. The front section I loosened looks looks like a casting from the inside. I noticed two little bosses that protrude forward on top of the breech face. Would they be to help protect it in case a cartridge pin broke or the hammers fell on empty chambers? The breech faces have some pitting. What is the accepted term for this type of action?

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Hal Offline
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What does the "NL" above the "H" stand for? How about the "8" in the "16.8"? Chamber length is 2 9/16". Cleaned the barrels. Looks like light pitting throughout, but little in the chambers.

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Hal, the 16.8 refers to bore size in millimeters, which is 0.661 inches, or 16 gauge. As to the stampings, it could be "NL" or, reversed, "TN". Either way, with the "H" mark, I've not been able to trace these to any maker or craftsman with the resources I have. Perhaps someone who recognizes these from their own research will chime in, one can only hope! Your pictures were very clear. Unfortunately the letter stampings were not.

To your earlier questions. If you are referring to tiny protrusions at the top of the breech face that are lined up with the pin holes on the barrels, one frequent contributor to this thread named them "keepers", as they help line up the pins and keep them perfectly upright. They vary in shape and prominence, from barely there, to quite prominent and fitting into a squared recess in the barrel rim on some guns. They might act as a gas seal or gas deflector (by reducing the size of the pin hole), or simply to 'round' the pin hole on the barrel, which would otherwise have a sideways 'D' shape. Here is a picture where you can see them protruding from the top of the breech face:

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

Not all pinfires have them. In my mind filing a perfectly flat breech face is hard enough, but leaving two small protrusions? Too much work!

Yes, the fore-end does look like a casting, as do mine.

As to the accepted term for this kind of action, I suppose it is most commonly referred to as a "Lefaucheux" action, as per its inventor. However this is far from precise, as Casimir Lefaucheux designed quite a few actions, and his pinfire creation underwent an evolution by his own hands, as AaronN has shown us, let alone all the minor variations introduced by other gunmakers of the period.

From the Liège proofmarks, your gun was made after 1852, but that's about as much as can be told.

Light pitting in the bores is good news. The insides of pinfire barrels are often quite horrific from neglect.

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Hal Offline
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Thanks again. I see the coincidence on the mm measurement now as a 12 bore would be marked 18.5.

I am positive on the serifed "N L" letters. In light of this, the mark that looks like an "H" is very unusual. It looks more like an object than a letter, as the inward-pointing portons of the serif have been removed, leaving only the outward-pointing ones. Note there is also a "V" o the same size font as the "H".

The 'keepers' are rectangular, but fit into a V-shaped recess on the barrels.

Now I can casually mention to my buddy that the gun is a "Belgian Lefaucheux" and really impress him.


[img]http://[IMG]https://www.jpgbox.com/jpg/63451_600x400.jpg[/img][/img]

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Hal Offline
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Searched a bit and found a Belgian steel fabricator in business since 1830 named New Lachaussee that could account for the "N.L." mark on my gun. Sent them an email asking if they knew what the strange-looking "H" logo might represent, but have not heard back. Still in business making detonators.

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Ivanhoe has kindly passed on some pictures of two pinfire actions he found 20 years ago in a box of old spares at a village auction, and he has requested they be included in this thread. One can never see too many pinfire actions.

The first is a single-bite, forward-underlever action, in 12-bore. It is by John Blanch & Sons, according to the vendor. It has the serial number 2360, which, if a Blanch, would make it a very early number. The Internet’s Blanch database (http://www.jblanchdatabase.co.uk/) has Blanch’s muzzle-loader serial numbers ending around no. 2100, and Blanch breechloaders starting around no. 3100. The data on early guns is sparse, so it may be a Blanch action. If I’m reading it correctly, it appears to have view marks from both the London and Birmingham proof houses?

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]
[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]
[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]
[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]
[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

The second action is unmarked. It is a single-bite rearward underlever action, possibly in 14-bore, with the Lang-type assisted-opening rising stud. There is a London view mark. I notice a lack of radius between the breech face and the bar; it could be an early action.

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]
[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]
[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]
[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]
[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

Interesting items. Well spotted, Ivanhoe!

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