HA, no, that thing will not handle Goex anymore much less smokeless. In fact my grandfather in a misguided attempt to make sure it was not attempted, corked the barrel about 30 years ago.

You can't read the plaque through the glass but this is a rifle that has been in my family AT LEAST since the 1860s. Probably earlier. From what I have learned over the years from people who know about such things, the gun as it sits today was probably put together in the 1820s-1840s. The barrel is probably a converted flintlock originally manufactured in the 1700s. My great-great-great grandfather carried this rifle in a little-known post-Civil War uprising called the Fienian Raids. A group of poorly coordinated Irish-American Civil War veterans decided to take control of Ontario and force the British to divert troops there from Ireland so that the Irish could force the rest of the Brits off the island. My g-g-g grandfather was most likely called up in the militia the first year of the Raids, when the Canadians basically carried whatever gun they had handy. A second Raid followed the next year, but by then the Canadians had re-armed with repeating weaponry and the US gov't decided they could not incite the Canadians (and British) by letting an invasion launch and be supplied across the US border so they cut the supply lines and the Raids ended.

Here are a few more pics. Not that at some point long ago the stock was cracked off and (sort of) repaired with metal strips. The lock is pretty corroded, for all I know the thing is still charged but I decided that, given its condition, I would leave the cork in and preserve as-is as trying to remove the cork and check for a load could severely damage the gun.

I built the case myself a couple Christmases ago so it can hang in house.


Belt from g-g-g grandfather's Canadian uniform:




Notice the detail on this boar's head, complete with glass eye: