Shooting Originals

[NukeOperator]

Does anyone here shoot their original firearms? What firearms do you shoot?

[Bob McBride]

I shoot my original ACW era P53 Enfields and Springfields with full loads just like a contemporary. As far as flintlock era I have a few restocks of period parts that get shot with light loads occasionally but the steel is quite different from 150 years ago to 200+ years ago and I’m careful with those. No heavy charges nor tightly patched stuff. I have a P53 that has probably been shot more by me than it was ever shot during its service life, but it is ALL about the condition of the lock, stock, and most importantly, the barrel.

[rich pierce]

A lot of mid to late 1800s shotguns get used. Aside from that, I’ve shot a couple late percussion rifles. I’d not shoot anything with significant collector value. I find the wood is typically brittle for some reason and it’s likely to crack.

[Levy]

I shoot several dbl percussion shotguns from 20 ga to 10 ga.  I shoot late percussion squirrel rifles from .27 cal. to about .41 cal.  I shoot 4 percussion combination guns.  Not very much range time, just hunting.
James Levy

[Ron Wehmeyer]

I shoot a .56 Cal Jaeger and a .72 Cal Jaeger several times a yr. each.  I don't push the charge up as high as I would a contemporary gun . Does not seem to hurt them one bit . 

[snapper]

I shoot all of my old shotguns and rifles.

My best one and the one with significate historical value is a long range Rigby English Sporting Rifle that was owned by one of the Irish shooters by the name of Robert Greenhill.   Robert was a member of the Irish team that shot in the famous Creedmoor matches.  He was also part of the famous Irish Eight team.   John Rigby was team Capitan.

I do shoot this rifle on occasion and compete with it.  I talk with Robert when I am shooting it at times and he helps me out.

Fleener

[Gemmer]

I shoot an original J.P.Gemmer halfstock regularly. It’s a .36 caliber. Very accurate.

[Seth Isaacson]

Absolutely:


That rifle is from John Krider's shop in Philadelphia and came my way from another poster here who was gracious enough to sell it to me.  Its around .47 caliber. Bore is worn and fairly dark, but it is not rough and still gives acceptable accuracy for my purposes. The breech and nipple are nice and secure. I'd be a lot more hesitant shooting a gun with a screw in drum than a nipple in a robust breech plug. A lot more percussion guns remain in good, shoot-able condition than many think, and many are pretty affordable and sometimes even much cheaper the modern copies of them. A lot of NSSA guys and Civil War reenactors shoot original rifle-muskets (especially before more copies were being made), and I know over in Europe shooting originals isn't uncommon.

I'd personally probably not shoot most flintlock era guns regardless of if they were in good shoot-able condition with the exception for robustly built military guns since the cocks and small parts can be fairly delicate, and original flintlocks tend to be higher value than percussion guns.

[DGB]

I also shoot several of my originals, especially some Ohio match rifles with good bores.
One by Christian Siebert shoots so well , I won't say anything for fear of being accused of B.S.
Much pleasure to be had shooting something that old.
Be safe out there,
DGB

[Fyrstyk]

I shoot two of my Great Great Great Grandfathers rifles from the 1840's.  One is a .32 Gibbins, and the other is a .35 Penebaker.  I take them out on occasion for squirrel hunting.  The Gibbins has a 1" across the flats barrel full stock making it somewhat heavy for long walks in the woods.  The Penebaker has a 39", 3/4" across the flats barrel and is a half stock.  When I got the Penebaker as part of a heirloom hand me down the gun had not been shot in over 100 years.  To my surprise, the gun was still loaded.  I remedied that right away.  both guns shoot great, but i have trouble with the very low iron sights, both front & rear.  The front sight on both guns is a silver blade barely 1/32" high.

[smylee grouch]

I shoot an original half stock 45 cal Perc. I have taken three deer with it over the years but it's getting a little too heavy for me now. Thinking about selling it but UI havent tried too hard yet.

[JV Puleo]

I no longer bother with shooting - it's too much of a headache to find a place to do it where I live but when I was shooting regularly I only shot original rifles - mostly a Henry Pratt flint NE rifle and an unmarked NE percussion rifle in .41 caliber. If a match called for a military rifle I used my 1817 Common Rifle. I've owned only one reproduction - sold it a week after I bought it and never shot it. It was one of those Parker Hale 2-band Enfields...regarded as quite desirable now but I though the lock work was rubbish compared to an original.

oops...I forgot my reproduction Colt Navy - a birthday present from my mother when I was 15.

[Dan Fruth]

I shoot an original Damascus double built in the late 18th or early 19 C. It is a flint double 21 gage and it does very well. I restored the locks, including several screws and a mainspring, restored the rollers on the frizzens, glued up some cracks,and it is a very fast gun. Made by John Harcourt from Ipswich.

[varsity07840]

1816 flint Springfield, 1841 Mississippi, 1842 rifled Springfield, 1863 Springfield, percussion Ohio half stock freshed out to .45, 14 bore percussion half stock bear rifle(?), percussion Westley Richards  16 bore stalking rifle(wish I didn't sell it).

[j. pease]

I shoot a .45 cal J P Gemmer which shoots great, originally came from John Baird in 1970's at Friendship, also shoot several percussion doubles

[OLUT]

My go-to gun is a half stock New York state percussion .36 by A D Bishop. But as a collector of over under guns, I have fired all the pieces in my collection IF the gun is sound and IF I have the correct size lead balls for it... As I am living in New Hampshire, I do routinely fire a percussion over under by D H Hilliard, which has surprisingly great target sights on a .36 rifle over a 12 gauge shotgun. This gun is of course heavy, so it just gets shot off the bench. My hunting days are over, but back in the day, I routinely used a nice Greener 12 gauge percussion double. etc, etc, etc

[smokinbuck]

I also shoot several of my originals, especially some Ohio match rifles with good bores.
One by Christian Siebert shoots so well , I won't say anything for fear of being accused of B.S.
Much pleasure to be had shooting something that old.
Be safe out there,
DGB

DGB, The worth of the Seibert rifles at the range is not BS. They were known as winners when they were new and some still are. I have a number of them and show and use them proudly.
Mark

[Pukka Bundook]

If I've got it, I shoot it.
old sporting guns, flint and percussion, P '53, and India pattern pattern F .
These India patterns were some of the best made at that time, and Bill Curtis always used full house loads in his, and I do the same when needed.

I do have one or two nice pieces, but they get used as well, though the stocks are kept up with linseed oil to prevent breakage.

Beswt,
Richard.

[Hungry Horse]

 I would suggest a complete and thorough examination by a gunsmith knowledgeable in black powder firearms, and preferably antique black powder firearms. What was considered perfectly safe a hundred and fifty years ago might not be considered safe today. Remember that wood stored in a heated house for a hundred years has usually lost all it elasticity and the sharp recoil of a normally moderate charge can cause stocks to snap.
 That being said, I say shoot them occasionally, and clean them thoroughly, and enjoy them immensely, so they survive us all.

  Hungry Horse

[Bob McBride]

Great point about carefully examining the stocks. Virtually every military issue musket I have that's shootable has pristine wood that's, if anything, tougher than it was during it's service life. Hit or miss on civilian guns.