Where to start with checking old black powder guns for safety?

[stix213]

So my dad is clearing out some of his old stuff, and he is giving me some old black powder guns. These are guns I grew up with hanging on the wall, now they are being given to me. I don't know much about them. Two are supposedly Kentucky rifles, and the 3rd is a double barrel side by side shotgun (supposedly Damascus barrels). They date from the late 1700's to civil war era, I'll do some actual research on them when I get them in my possession (just remembering from when I was a kid).

I know my dad fired one of the rifles when he was a kid (they were his dad's at the time, they have been passed down from generation to generation). What I'm wondering is where do I start with checking if any of them are safe to fire? I'd like to fire at least one of them.

Is there anywhere I can start with my research, or is it just too big a subject and I should leave it to a smith?

I'll post pics when I pick them up tonight.

[James Bond]

Start with making sure there is not a charge in the bottom of the barrel. Take a ramrod and measure from the muzzle to the breach. Then insert the rod into the barrel. If it does not reach your mark, assume it could be loaded. This is much more common than you would think. I purchased a used percussion rifle that had not one but two charges still in the barrel. If you are certain these are genuine firearms from the 18th or 19th century, I would recommend you find a knowledgeable smith to look them over to see if they are safe to fire.

[stix213]

Start with making sure there is not a charge in the bottom of the barrel. Take a ramrod and measure from the muzzle to the breach. Then insert the rod into the barrel. If it does not reach your mark, assume it could be loaded. This is much more common than you would think. I purchased a used percussion rifle that had not one but two charges still in the barrel. If you are certain these are genuine firearms from the 18th or 19th century, I would recommend you find a knowledgeable smith to look them over to see if they are safe to fire.

Thanks for the advice. Yeah I have no idea if they are charged at the moment. I'll definitely check them.

[stix213]

Here's a pic of them. I'm kinda excited.

[Enfield47]

Very cool to have these handed down through your family.

I thought Kentuky rifles were flintlocks, those rifles look like like percussion caps.

[stix213]

Very cool to have these handed down through your family.

I thought Kentuky rifles were flintlocks, those rifles look like like percussion caps.

My dad isn't a gun expert, and I have only started researching these old guns myself, so have no idea if they are actually considered Kentucky Rifles or not.

[Springfield45]

Here's a pic of them. I'm kinda excited.

I have a Damascus shotgun just like the one on the bottom. Those all look to be originals and not reproductions. Very nice guns.

[THBailey]

I'm not sure what a gunsmith can tell you about a 100 year old gun beyond the mechanicals. A friend and I play around with old antique guns. We do a "poor man's" proof test by stoking with a stout load, put the gun in a gun vise, and touch it off via 30 feet of cord while hiding behind the truck. If it is still in one piece after a couple two or three of these, we feel it is reasonably safe to use with mild loads. We haven't killed ourselves... yet. Maybe we ought to use 50 feet of cord? But these are not heirloom guns with sentimental value so if we might grenade one (hasn't happened yet) we are only out the cost of the gun. At that, I don't think I would shoot the Damascus. Rolled strips, of what we would now call iron, pounded together around a mandrel a hundred years ago and shot with corrosive components ever since. If you want to shoot a muzzle loading shotgun get a Pedersoli. I hunt with one and love it. Your heirloom will be much happier over the fireplace and in one piece.

[Fjold]

Remove the nipples and thread a thin wire down through it into the combustion chamber to make sure it's not loaded. A friend of mine had a huge burn mark on his neck from showing his girlfriend an old wallhanger, when she pulled the trigger and it went off. Luckily, the ball missed him but he had a nasty powder burn for the rest of his life.

[Whiterabbit]

golly those are pretty. I'd focus on the top one myself. barrel is keyed to the stock rather than pinned, and it's prettier. Double set trigger. Just lovely.

Can you imagine going out to bitterwater or the like with one of those, taking a beefalo, and posing for the trophy shot with the family rifle? That would make for an amazing contribution to the family heirlooms. Worth the price of admission.