A couple of weeks ago I picked up a standard CVA .45 flintlock Kentucky rifle for $100. Looking the gun over it was evident that it had never been fired but was obviously 30 or 40 years old. It had been assembled from a kit and the original owner did a very poor job of putting it together. I figured with a little work and a few new parts I could make it into a decent rifle. One of the missing parts was a thimble for the ramrod. When the parts arrived I had to remove the barrel from the stock in order to install the thimble. It was at this point that I noticed that the chamber area of the barrel had been completely milled away! This was only noticeable with the barrel removed from the stock. Had I put 60 grains of 3F powder down this barrel and topped it with a round ball, right now I would be busy picking splinters out of my forearm. The original owner is dead and the person who sold the rifle had no idea this had been done. Why this was done remains a mystery as the barrel appears to be in perfect condition (minus the rather important steel in the chamber area). Bottom line: when buying a used muzzleloader, assume that it is loaded and/or that someone may have intentionally made the firearm unusable in an attempt to make it "safe" for display. Now I have to find a 45 flintlock Kentucky barrel.