Does the story fit?
01-02-2011, 04:43 PM
#1
Typical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Kansas
Posts: 921
Does the story fit?
This past week I was visiting my Father in South Dakota. The discussion came around to what I've been doing lately and I mentioned my new MZ hobby. At that time he told me about two old guns he had in storage. I last saw these was in my Grandparents home some 40 yrs ago.
My Dad's not much for stories. If he doesn't know the details he'll just say so but in this case he went on to say that when the Civil War ended the country was full of war guns. ( He claimed they made sidewalks out them they had so many) Anyway, many of them were sent out to the farmers for whatever use they were needed. The two in the pictures below ended up on my family farm in Southern MN and have been kept around since then.
One has the Potsdam name on the side plate.
Do they look like they came from the war? Any other info on these? Even if they didn't come from the war, they're pretty cool. The one has the stock burned away from repeated ignitions.
My Dad's not much for stories. If he doesn't know the details he'll just say so but in this case he went on to say that when the Civil War ended the country was full of war guns. ( He claimed they made sidewalks out them they had so many) Anyway, many of them were sent out to the farmers for whatever use they were needed. The two in the pictures below ended up on my family farm in Southern MN and have been kept around since then.
One has the Potsdam name on the side plate.
Do they look like they came from the war? Any other info on these? Even if they didn't come from the war, they're pretty cool. The one has the stock burned away from repeated ignitions.
01-02-2011, 06:38 PM
#2
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: River Ridge, LA (Suburb of New Orleans)
Posts: 10,917
I'm no expert on these things. But I know after the Civil War a lot of military arms were reamed out to smoothbore and converted to shotguns. That's what those look like to me - muskets that had the stock cut off in front of the rear barrel band and and the barrel cut behind the bayonet lug, or the lug ground off. Supposedly, they were available at every hardware store/gun shot in the country for next to nothing. Are they rifled or smooth?
01-02-2011, 08:53 PM
#5
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: River Ridge, LA (Suburb of New Orleans)
Posts: 10,917
Take a look at the hammer shape and trigger guard shape on the one in the link below, and compare it to the one in your first picture.
http://www.icollector.com/Found-with...-barr_i8787092
http://www.icollector.com/Found-with...-barr_i8787092
01-03-2011, 03:22 AM
#6
Typical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Kansas
Posts: 921
I'm no expert on these things. But I know after the Civil War a lot of military arms were reamed out to smoothbore and converted to shotguns. That's what those look like to me - muskets that had the stock cut off in front of the rear barrel band and and the barrel cut behind the bayonet lug, or the lug ground off. Supposedly, they were available at every hardware store/gun shot in the country for next to nothing. Are they rifled or smooth?
These are both smooth and I can see a place where it looks like a lug has been ground off. Thanks for the insight!
01-03-2011, 03:27 AM
#7
Typical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Kansas
Posts: 921
Take a look at the hammer shape and trigger guard shape on the one in the link below, and compare it to the one in your first picture.
http://www.icollector.com/Found-with...-barr_i8787092
http://www.icollector.com/Found-with...-barr_i8787092
They look very similar. I'll look a little closer for additional details tonight.
