My brother bought an 1863 front stuffer last week. A good honest relic from the civil war in great shape except it had been in a fire 5 years ago.
Nothing too serious, just scorched the wood between the 2nd and 3rd ring. It had some putty added to the worst spots but will dress up to where it is hardly noticeable.
All the metal is still armory bright with expected pitting around the nipple. The VP and eagle are viewable but only the '186-' of the '1863' can be seen on the top of the breech. The 'armory bright' (silver) finish is in surprisingly good shape and is cleaning up better than I had hoped.
Not sure what the rifling looks like yet. I had to put a couple cleaning rods together to hit bottom, at least it wasn't loaded. The nipple is dark but still 'breaths' and remains in usable condition.
If the inside of the barrel is anything like the outside, we plan to make it into a shooter. No long range high grain crap, just the light puff of smoke and lead going down range stuff. We are crazy, but not that kind of crazy. Or as my brother would say, "Sure, we fell of a turnip truck, but it wasn't last night..."
Pictures to follow.
Nothing too serious, just scorched the wood between the 2nd and 3rd ring. It had some putty added to the worst spots but will dress up to where it is hardly noticeable.
All the metal is still armory bright with expected pitting around the nipple. The VP and eagle are viewable but only the '186-' of the '1863' can be seen on the top of the breech. The 'armory bright' (silver) finish is in surprisingly good shape and is cleaning up better than I had hoped.
Not sure what the rifling looks like yet. I had to put a couple cleaning rods together to hit bottom, at least it wasn't loaded. The nipple is dark but still 'breaths' and remains in usable condition.
If the inside of the barrel is anything like the outside, we plan to make it into a shooter. No long range high grain crap, just the light puff of smoke and lead going down range stuff. We are crazy, but not that kind of crazy. Or as my brother would say, "Sure, we fell of a turnip truck, but it wasn't last night..."
Pictures to follow.