.45 cal made in Belguim percussion rifle.

[wolfman1755]

Hi, i have bought a Belguim made .45 cal percussion rifle. It hase an oval shaped circle with the letters E L G with a star underneath and 11.4 outside the oval. It has a serial number W10002. I was wondering how old this rifle is. It shoots great and has realy got me more interested in black powder guns. Anybody out there that can help me please?
Wayne.

[Battis]

This is a good place to start when researching Belgian guns.
http://www.littlegun.be/arme%20belge/a%20a%20site%20belge%20gb.htm

This site is mostly for shotguns, but check out the date codes: w looks like 1944, a lower case w underlined looks like 1984, an upper case underlined W looks like 1999.
http://damascus-barrels.com/Belgian_All_Proofmarks.html

I'm pretty sure the 11.4 is millimeters which would convert to about .45 inches.

[john.k]

One of the first replicas on the US market was imported from Belgium by either Dixie or H&A,forget which .But I do remember Dixie had a "squirrel rifle" in either flint or percussion from Belgium in the sixties .Way beyond my means in those days.

[Eddie Southgate]

The Dixie rifle I am familiar with was a .40 cal with a half stock and a round barrel . The ones I have shot were all tack drivers . The barrels were very good , the rest of the rifle was sufficient for use . Wouldn't mind having a couple of the barrels but haven't seen them since the early 80's .

Eddie

[hornady308]

If you take the barrel out of the stock, you might find the name "Kirkland" stamped into the metal. This indicates that it was imported by Turner Kirkland of Dixie Gun Works. Some people built rifles from kits that he sold.