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Thread: Testing of BP Muskets

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
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    Macclesfield and Ely
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    1,065

    Testing of BP Muskets

    Does anyone have their Antique Firing Muskets Tested in anyway? ie dye penetrant. Is there any age limit on a Musket where it should be consigned to the wall.
    After looking at S/H Muskets on websites I have decided to buy a Repro. As I wouldn't trust my Daughter's life behind an unknown 200 year old pipe bomb !! She will want to fire it !!!!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    chelmsford
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    694
    the age is not a problem, it the condition that counts. I shoot a 1855 Enfield quite happily, the bore is very good apart from a small patch of corrosion.
    one quick way to check a barrel is to remove it from the woodwork and tap it as you hold it up. It should ring like a bell, if it does not check further.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Huntingdon
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    9,253
    If in doubt, get it proofed. The bell-ringing home test is a good one, a 'riiiiinnnngggggggg' is good, and a 'dunk' is bad, but......

    Both proof houses will issue certificates to accompany the gun in lieu of a profusion of new stamps all over the barrel and action, but just might apply a VERY small stamp where it cannot ordinarily be seen. In any event, you will be taking/sending only the barrelled action sans woodwork.

    tac

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
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    Manchester
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    If you purchase an original that is in regular use you will know it is safe to use.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2016
    Location
    London
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    37
    I am in the same situation, I think I will be going for the proof house option

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Huntingdon
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    It happens a lot over the Great Water- far more than you think - but please ensure that any 'old musket' that you buy is not already loaded. Obviously, buying from a reputable dealer should ensure that this is not the case, but at the turn of the century a pub somewhere around here discovered that an 'old gun' hanging on the wall forever, was actually still loaded, albeit with newspaper and wadding, from celebrating Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee in 1897.

    tac

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Huntingdon
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    9,253
    Quote Originally Posted by Preacher View Post
    I am in the same situation, I think I will be going for the proof house option
    Wise man.

    tac

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