Author Topic: Rudolph Pelck  (Read 10615 times)

Offline Curt J

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Re: Rudolph Pelck
« Reply #25 on: February 18, 2013, 08:51:43 AM »
My best guess is....that it did not have opposing drums when it was built.  I'm guessing that the one on the right side was originally located where the plugged hole is now.  It had some sort of mechanism to transfer the blow of the hammer to the forward drum & nipple, that was later removed after some owner decided that superposed loads were not such a good idea.

Offline Bill Paton

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Re: Rudolph Pelck
« Reply #26 on: February 18, 2013, 11:54:31 AM »
I think your Pelck is as originally made as a superimposed load two shot single barrel rifle. Pull the barrel and look at the barrel breech-on. I bet you'll find a screw plug in the 3 o'clock position in line with the right drum. Remove that, and you will see a touch hole running forward to the front screw on the right side barrel flat. Pull that front screw and you will see into the barrel about a caliber and a half in front of a shoulder at the breech end of the bore which constricts the powder chamber of the rear charge (to keep the front discharge from driving the rear ball into its powder). I've never seen what I just described, but it follows the Lindsay civil war double musket pattern. If you ever shoot this, and discharge the front shot without discharging the rear, be certain to wait for the smoldering rear patch to go out before re-loading the front charge! This loading system keeps coming up again and again through muzzle loader history, and I believe there are very good reasons why it never caught on well. I tried sighting in my original Lindsay double musket for a moose hunt several years ago. It started out pretty well, but I quit immediately after the 11th shot, which was a double discharge that the gun (and my shoulder) handled well, but both Minnie balls missed the big target. Bill Paton
Kentucky double rifle student
wapaton.sr@gmail.com

Offline Hungry Horse

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Re: Rudolph Pelck
« Reply #27 on: February 18, 2013, 07:15:10 PM »
 There seems to have been a fad, in the late percussion era, toward not only multi-shot rifles, but ambidextrous stock configurations as well. This is the first one I've seen that combines both.
 The cheek piece inlay is familiar, but I can't quite remember where I've seen it before.

                     Hungry Horse