Dutchman
03-29-2014, 07:13 AM
So it was 1968 or 69 in SoCal. This guy I knew (his name was David Duke) hands me a short percussion "rifle" and asks do I want to buy it for $35. It was like a carbine and was .69 caliber. It had no front sight so it mostly looked like a shotgun. The lockplate said Torino 1842.
At one point it was a long rifle and had a front sight. But MrDuke was a dork of sorts. He commonly overloaded it before handing it to friends to shoot. (some of you might know somebody like him).
One day the hammer-welded seam let go and the barrel split all the way down to where the barrel wall thickness was much thicker. It went from a rifle to a musketoon in the time it took for the hammer to smack the cap. But thanks to the ingenuity of MrDuke and the availability of a hacksaw and a file he was able to save this historical artifact from the city dump.
I took it home with me and after buying some .69 caliber round balls and some BP.. and if the truth be known I also shot some loose .45 acp cast bullets out of it since it already looked like a little short riot shotgun. You could fit four .45 cast bullets easy enough down the tube. Capped the nipple and let 'er rip. The mountainside erupted in laughter at my attempt to reconcile the hillside with this old beast.
Alas I cleaned it and took it back to MrDuke saying "no thanks". Instead for $20 he sold me two 20 rd boxes of original Winchester .45-70-500 cartridges.
Dutch
At one point it was a long rifle and had a front sight. But MrDuke was a dork of sorts. He commonly overloaded it before handing it to friends to shoot. (some of you might know somebody like him).
One day the hammer-welded seam let go and the barrel split all the way down to where the barrel wall thickness was much thicker. It went from a rifle to a musketoon in the time it took for the hammer to smack the cap. But thanks to the ingenuity of MrDuke and the availability of a hacksaw and a file he was able to save this historical artifact from the city dump.
I took it home with me and after buying some .69 caliber round balls and some BP.. and if the truth be known I also shot some loose .45 acp cast bullets out of it since it already looked like a little short riot shotgun. You could fit four .45 cast bullets easy enough down the tube. Capped the nipple and let 'er rip. The mountainside erupted in laughter at my attempt to reconcile the hillside with this old beast.
Alas I cleaned it and took it back to MrDuke saying "no thanks". Instead for $20 he sold me two 20 rd boxes of original Winchester .45-70-500 cartridges.
Dutch