Thread: Cracking the Code on another Double Rifle

What precautions do you take when firing and old firearm like this for the first time?

Originally Posted by imaca

What precautions do you take when firing and old firearm like this for the first time?

Ear and eye protection only.

This rifle is only 100 years old, made of quality Swedish carbon steel by a very good gunmaking company.
It is in perfect mechanical condition.
The bores are good
The barrels ring true when tapped with a brass hammer
I am shooting back powder only in it which is what it was made for and Proofed for.
The Lefaucheux type underlever double bite action is renowned for its strength and safe long service.

Black Powder generates modest pressures around 12K PSI which is what the rifle was designed for.
So if there are no obvious red flags it's good to go.

Sometimes I would test a black powder rifle from a sand bag bench with a trigger string, but I don't buy rifles in that sort of condition

I will test the full cock hammer sears buy firing a lest barrel with the right hammer cooked on an empty chamber to check it doesn't fire under recoil.
And visa versa

But I generally never cock both hammers while hunting with my doubles because the animals I hunt I eat rather than them eating me

Good old guns are safe guns if you are shooting the load and bullets they were intended for.

Try and run trailboss or nitro for black in them and all bets are off

Originally Posted by imaca

What precautions do you take when firing and old firearm like this for the first time?

Yeah i also shoot alot of guns for the 1st time
The biggest thing in my opinion is to insure a safe rifle
Some rifles you just know they are fine as soon as you pick them up

Others require a full disassembly and inspection and maybe a replacement part or two

2nd biggest thing is use the correct ammunition
Any smokeless powder is a no no black powder only
The correctly sized projectiles etc
A chamber casting will tell you all the information you need about what the rifle shoots

Originally Posted by imaca

What precautions do you take when firing and old firearm like this for the first time?

To be brutally honest I feel safer firing a 100 year old BP rifle in good condition than I would a brand new budget Tupperware nitro rifle

This rifle is early 1900s and well into the nitro era
Husqvarna kept making them because there was still a market for them.
But they were still using the steel that was going into their nitro guns

It it's surprisingly hard or you have to be astonishingly stupid to blow up a BP gun with BP

Originally Posted by akaroa1

It it's surprisingly hard or you have to be astonishingly stupid to blow up a BP gun with BP

Yep dead right there

Sadly they walk along us.

Very very cool!

I kind of imagine the choice of barrels gave the option for moose or roe and fox etc on a drive.

Give Ken Tustin a call, he might put you onto a spot now you've got it going!

Originally Posted by Tentman

Give Ken Tustin a call, he might put you onto a spot now you've got it going!

Very subtle joke

Originally Posted by whanahuia

Very very cool!

I kind of imagine the choice of barrels gave the option for moose or roe and fox etc on a drive.

Yeah
That's generally not how we hunt in NZ
But Europe is very different and I guess this was a working man's gun rather than a gentleman's gun

I got a box of CBC berdan primed brass in the mail this morning

Converted one to take a 209 shotgun primer
Shortened to 46mm
Annealed the neck and loaded it up.

Worked just fine and I fired it a few times

Made 4 of the 209 primed cases so I now have 8 loaded rounds in total and enough to go hunting



I have long 20 gauge plastic hulls and .315" lead balls coming and then I will work out a buck shot load for the straight rifled barrel and I will be ready for anything out hunting

I like your target. No chance of messing up which hole is which cartridge haha

Originally Posted by Tentman

I like your target. No chance of messing up which hole is which cartridge haha

Lot of recycling going on

Just shoot a different Caliber and hope the small ones don't go through the big ones

Originally Posted by akaroa1

I've ordered some .315" 47 grain buck shot which should pack in neat 3s in the 20 gauge case and take 4 stacks so 12 balls.
Hopefully it will group better than the small shot and not as tight as the large shot.

The straight rifled barrel was intended as a shot barrel that throws a good pattern despite not having a choke and will shoot a ball or conical Minute or Moose at relatively close range

I have some 20ga 9 ball buckshot and it's pretty effective on goats at the ~30m range