What do we think of this?

[Beowoulf]

As you may know, the wise ones of Canada have ruled that ONLY real, honest-to-goodness antique pre-1898 firearms may be owned without a maze of registrations and ownership rules. (e.g. You may only transport registered weapons to one pre-designated spot. If you want to take it someplace else, you need to apply to do that - each time. God Bless America!)

Anyway, I have found this one-eyed, battle-scarred, junkyard dog for sale. .58 cal. 8" barrel Iron trim walnut.

Caveat: The small flat faced lock will not hold the full cock position "currently"

Price: Just over $400. What say ye?

[Cannibal Chrispy]

Shouts, OOOH Principal Cascabel.....

[hurricane]

Chrispy, you took the words right out of my mouth (which is very hard to do). Not a place for we casual gun types.

[Dorian Lasseter]

I'll add my bit here as well...

Looks to be a reasonably nice piece... is it truly an original?

If Yes... DO NOT THINK OF FIRING IT... 200+ years of rust, weathering, etc. and the metal may have crystallized, plus the metallurgy isn't what it is today... Not only that, but most event sites will not allow original weapons to be fired. I'd hate to see an original piece blow up (yes even with just a blank load) and injure a friend or two...

Would be a grand show piece however...

[Beowoulf]

Well, then Dorian, that cans it. I have twisted in every imaginable way to circumvent the stupid Canadian registration requirements. It just ain't gonna happen, is it.

Have I mentioned lately how much I despise living in Canada? The things you do for love....

[Commodore Swab]

I would guess it is assembled from a few different pieces onto a newer stock however when they cut the stock they failed to inlet the triggerguard and left no provision for a ramrod either.

[Dorian Lasseter]

Well, then Dorian, that cans it. I have twisted in every imaginable way to circumvent the stupid Canadian registration requirements. It just ain't gonna happen, is it.

Have I mentioned lately how much I despise living in Canada? The things you do for love....

My apologies for bursting your bubble... but I would rather be safe than sorry my friend....

And from what VS posted as well, I didn't look nearly close enough... there are too many things wrong with that piece...

Agreed... the things we do for love...

Best of luck to ye, mate!

[Cascabel]

I hope you have not bought this thing. There is far more not "right" about it than good. As vintage sailor states, it is a put together piece from mismatched parts from different guns, and really not very well done.

The stock is very obviously newer than the rest of the parts, and the workmanship is rather poor. The parts are definitely not matching in either style or quality. For instance, if you look at the lock, the cock has obvious engraving, but the lockplate does not. That is an immediate red flag. I would also like to get a look at the inside of the lock. For a gun of this period, there should be some kind of carved molding around the lock area, and the oposite side, even on an inexpensive piece. The barrel bears Spanish proofmarks, and is rather nice, and the buttcap is a quality piece, but the trigger guard and sideplate are much poorer quality in both style and workmanship. It has all the earmarks of a cobbled together piece from either North Africa, or the Middle East. Probably has some age to it, but not a couple of hundred years.

>>>>> Cascabel

[PLUNDERING PYLOS PARKER]

it does have some issues like the others said, but remember some guns did take on character, and were rebuilt from other parts, in fact when outside the colonies on the frontier people were poor, they used a variety of parts from other guns. these tools broke from time to time. i would say by the picture the barrel looks pretty authentic, the proof marks and the barrel rings and the way the barrel tapers, looks real, the lock itself has a later period look, it is smaller in size for such a large calibur 58. you may want to remeasure the bore size it looks to me to be a bigger bore size . if you look at early style locks during the GAOP most were heavy looking (robust) . this lock looks like it is a later period from the later 18th century or early 19th century time frame, but it looks better than most guns i have seen out at pirate faires. beauty is in the eye of the beholder, in my opinion it has character, and you can always replace the parts and up grade the gun. with times being as they are you can bargain with the seller and offer him less. boader officials couldnt tell what is real anyway, they are like fish and game when it comes to antigues unless you are a dealer, gun builder or historian it is hard to tell what is real or fake, there are alot of guns out there and blackpowder weapons are a whole nother story. most people cant identify the difference between a percussion and a flint. i think if you try to get the gun a little lower and add the parts and if you want to drill for a ram rod, you can make the gun look whole.

[MarkG]

it does have some issues like the others said, but remember some guns did take on character, and were rebuilt from other parts, in fact when outside the colonies on the frontier people were poor, they used a variety of parts from other guns. these tools broke from time to time. i would say by the picture the barrel looks pretty authentic, the proof marks and the barrel rings and the way the barrel tapers, looks real, the lock itself has a later period look, it is smaller in size for such a large calibur 58. you may want to remeasure the bore size it looks to me to be a bigger bore size . if you look at early style locks during the GAOP most were heavy looking (robust) . this lock looks like it is a later period from the later 18th century or early 19th century time frame, but it looks better than most guns i have seen out at pirate faires. beauty is in the eye of the beholder, in my opinion it has character, and you can always replace the parts and up grade the gun. with times being as they are you can bargain with the seller and offer him less. boader officials couldnt tell what is real anyway, they are like fish and game when it comes to antigues unless you are a dealer, gun builder or historian it is hard to tell what is real or fake, there are alot of guns out there and blackpowder weapons are a whole nother story. most people cant identify the difference between a percussion and a flint. i think if you try to get the gun a little lower and add the parts and if you want to drill for a ram rod, you can make the gun look whole.

Some guns were repaired. This does not look like one of those. There is a thriving industry in making entirely new guns using bits and pieces from old guns, mixed with new parts. They are meant as wall hangers although they would look good in someone belt, as well. I bought a pair of these years ago for the locks. They were snaphaunce locks. I managed to replace the missing parts on one ang get it firing. Then I threw away the rest of the guns and made an entirely new piece to put it on.

This pistol is probably one of these. I suspect that its pieces were ever part of the same gun until a few years ago. That means that it does not have much value. I would not try firing it, or even in the area if someone else fired it. If the barrel is original then it could be pitted. If someone is interested in it then base your price on comparable non-firing repros.