Thread: Black Powder Witchcraft. Regulating a BP Double Rifle

Well I like to look at things very thoroughly and do a lot of checks before I live fire a 185 year old rifle.

I actually sent bore castings and patches to James Tanner at ballmould.com in England this morning.
He will make a perfectly sized belted ball mould allowing for the patch thickness and pure lead shrinkage rate.

I have also researched the Dickson barrel numbers with Dickson and sons in Scotland as they have the full Dickson Ledgers since 1820.
They do have a record of these barrels and they even have a record of them coming to NZ and that the original owner returned from NZ in 1866 but did not return with the rifle.
That is all the information they would allow without the payment of 55 Pounds.
Dickson's also hold the ledgers for a number of other sadly departed Scottish Gunmakers and provide historic records for a charge.

I will get the Dickson double and my Alexander Henry rifle records done as both are worth the time and money to research.

Technically you have to marvel at the skills of the designers and craftsmen that made these rifles 185 and 150 years ago respectively.
The Dickson barrels are in perfect shootable condition and I would rate them 7.5/10
My Alexander Henry left the workshop 150 years ago next month.
Yes it left the workshop in August 1873. It is in mechanically perfect condition and the bore is 9.5/10

Show me a rifle made today that you might expect to be mechanically 100% in 150 years ?