I was at the pawn shop today making a payment on a layaway and one of the buying staff walked over with a double barreled shotgun. Two barrels, two triggers, two percussion locks. It looked rough. I asked the guy if I could see it and he handed it over. It was made in Spain, 12 gauge, but there was rusty pitting on the outside of the barrel and I didn't look down the tubes.
I told him that unless they were ready to spend some serious refinishing money, it was a wall-hanger.
I hope they didn't pay too much for it.
3 comments:
Wall hanger, indeed! If a percussion shotgun looks THAT rough on the outside, the bores haven't been properly cleaned after black powder firing. Pits on the outside + pits on the interior = terrifically unsafe to fire, even with the lightest BP loads.
JPG
Old Damascus twist barrels are an accident waiting to happen. Even if the previous owners cleaned the barrels religiously after shooting sessions, hydroscopic and salty black powder fouling got in the twisted seam. The barrels could appear pit-free internally and the seam could be barely holding together.
When I was a dumb kid we had a 10 ga double barrel with Damascus twist barrels. When we'd fire the thing, smoke would come out in spots along the barrels....
Naw, J. This wasn't a Damascus barrel. This was a modern muzzleloading shotgun that had been abused. Looks to me like it had been made in the last 20 years.
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