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    Buying Used Muzzleloading Guns
    Buying Used Muzzleloading Guns
    Buying Used Muzzleloading Guns
    Ebook64 pages22 minutes

    Buying Used Muzzleloading Guns

    By Wm. Hovey Smith

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    About this ebook

    Buying Used Muzzleloading Guns provides practical information on how to properly examine and evaluate replica muzzleloading guns of all types based on the author's half-century of hunting experiences.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBookBaby
    Release dateApr 17, 2013
    ISBN9780985596538
    Buying Used Muzzleloading Guns
    Author

    Wm. Hovey Smith

    Now returned to Central Georgia, Wm. Hovey Smith is a Geologist/outdoorsman who has written 13 books and is the Producer/Host of Hoveys Outdoor Adventures on WebTalkRadio.net. He is a Corresponding Editor for Gun Digest where he writes about muzzleloading guns and hunting in the U.S., Europe and Africa.

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      Book preview

      Buying Used Muzzleloading Guns - Wm. Hovey Smith

      hunting.

      Chapter 1:

      Buying used black-powder rifles

      Numbers of modern replica muzzleloading rifles are now appearing on the used gun racks of local shops. Are these good buys?

      Maybe. Ferreting out which of these rifles are worth owning can be quickly done by first examining the barrels, then the locks and lastly stocks and cosmetic details.

      Barrels

      Barrels are the soul of a gun. Without a good barrel, attractive wood, finishing and furnishings are so much window dressing. If the barrel is still sharp at the crown, not pitted and a tightly fitted patch goes in and out smoothly, the gun may be a keeper.

      Make sure the gun is uncapped or, if a flintlock, that the frizzen is in the forward position. Put a jag with a tightly-fitted, lightly-lubricated patch and push it down the bore using slow, even pressure. If the patch goes down without catching or encountering loose spots, this is a good sign.

      When the ramrod is all the way down put a piece of tape on it at the muzzle to mark its furthest point of progress. Pull the ramrod, and again feel for tight and loose spots that might indicate corroded areas or a ringed barrel caused by shooting the gun with an obstruction in the bore.

      If patches seem to catch within 3/8ths of an inch in front of the breech plug this is acceptable. As a production expedient, threading for breech plugs often extends a short distance into the barrel. This is not desirable, but is common. These barrels are safe and will shoot fine.

      Lay the ramrod on top of the barrel with the tape at the end of the muzzle. If the ramrod did not go to the bottom of the barrel, there is something, maybe a live charge, in the gun. If you find something report this to the shop owner and let him deal with the problem. Only after he has cleared the barrel, should you continue looking at that gun.

      Examine the patch. If the patch is clean, then the gun is all right. If the patch is covered with rust this means that the barrel steel is oxidizing. This may not be a fatal defect. If another patch slides down the barrel smoothly and comes out without hanging up the bore is fine.

      The same can be said if the patch comes out black or light yellow. The color of the patch is less important than the condition of the bore. Use these dirty patches to negotiate a lower price for the gun.

      If the interior of the barrel still appears acceptable, run your finger along a barrel flat and feel for bulges. The finger can detect a few thousands of an inch difference in the barrel contour. If the barrel passes these tests, examined the lock.

      Locks

      In hammer guns, the hammer should make solid clicks as it goes from a rest position to half and full cock. Wiggle the hammer slightly in half and full-cock positions. It should remain at these positions under light pressure.

      Ideally, the hammer should come back smoothly, but even some new guns from respected makers have rough-feeling locks.

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