Gun Show Surprises: Avoid Costly Mistakes When Buying Firearms

Gun show (bad) surprises.

 

Early February was another gunshow in Grey. And - as usual in the days following,  a handful of clients come into my shop to show off their new purchases. And this is where the mistakes are revealed.

All black powder firearms are first checked by using the ram rod and measuring outside from the touch hole to the muzzle, then the ram rod is pushed down the barrel as far as it will go and the measurements compared. Mostly they match, but quite often the ramrod will come to a hard stop a few inches short of the touch hole. This is where it gets interesting. I then used a special tiny camera to show the client the ball or bullet nesting down there.

I've been told very firmly "That's impossible: that musket has been in a museum for the last 60 years"... or the one that gave me chills: a man in his late 80's who wanted me to restore an original Springfield Model 1861 told me how as a child he and his brothers would play "Cowboys and injuns" at his grandma's house with it - dry firing it hundreds of times over the years while chasing each other with the old Civil War relic. The rifle then spent many decades hanging on a wall in his home and played with by his children, grandchildren, and recently great-grandchildren. The trigger guard and hammer were missing.

When i used a wooden dowel rod to check the bore - the original ram rod was missing- it stopped almost five inches short. The camera showed the tapered nose of a minie bullet down there. I then put a good squirt of WD into the touch hole and down the barrel and let it soak to inert the powder charge, using a specially modified grease zerk fitting and a good grease gun I managed to remove a double powder and shot load. He looked a little shaken when he realized that Springfield had been double-shotted for probably 90 or more years! If someone had put a percussion cap on the nipple, even that 100 year old gunpowder might have ignited!

Match locks, flintlocks, percussion guns or modern firearms all have the possibility of being loaded when we find them at shows, yard sales or grandpa's house. Please treat all firearms as if they are loaded. When in doubt, ask a knowledgeable person or bring it to my gunsmith shop in Roan Mountain - no charge for a safety check.

Be safe out there.

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