DOUBLE BARREL SHOT GUN!!!!!

R Digger · Feb 28, 2016

My daughter and i went out diggin and came across this baby! Super stoked about this one! I think it's a percussion 12ga. But not sure. Looks like someone didn't know how to properly load it! Lol. It's rusted to bad to find any markings. Does anyone know what this could possibly be? I'm in a civil war area, but found this on a personal property near an old cellar about 4" under dirt/pea gravel. The home was built in the mid 1800's. The homestead had been in the property owners family since built, but current owner knew nothing about this..... what's even more weird, there used to be an 1800's school house directly across the street. Any info would be appreciated! Thank you!

jewelerguy · Feb 28, 2016

that guy probably got some shrapnel in his face when it blew up. sure looks to have been a muzzle loader

NOLA_Ken · Feb 28, 2016

Yeah, that's not what you want to have in a shotgun barrel.... I wonder if the rest of it is about as far as the guy could throw it from where the barrel was....

BagLady · Feb 29, 2016

That's really cool. Too bad it's so rusted.

Terry Soloman · Mar 1, 2016

Great find - Congrats! :occasion14:

cudamark · Mar 1, 2016

You might want to soak it in Evaporust. Maybe some I.D. or details will start to show up.

Simon1 · Mar 1, 2016

I realize it has all that rust and corrosion, but seeing a dime take up virtually the entire area would lead me to speculate that the gauge is smaller than 12. Still a neat find though.

ScubaDetector · Mar 1, 2016

Very interesting find for sure. That is a cool relic.

stefen · Mar 2, 2016

Simon1 said:
I realize it has all that rust and corrosion, but seeing a dime take up virtually the entire area would lead me to speculate that the gauge is smaller than 12. Still a neat find though.

I use a dime to drop down my Lefever side X side double barrel 12 ga to check for the full choke...that looks like a .410 or 45 cal

Simon1 · Mar 2, 2016

I agree with you Stefen, I have 10 ga, 12 ga, 16ga, and 20 ga,: and my 12 ga. is larger than a dime.
Hey R Digger, if you do ever get some I.D. off it, let us know, ( or PM me ), as it is still nice find.

ivan salis · Mar 2, 2016

might be a 16 or 20 gauge ...both were popular with bird / small hunters in the olden days ..small game often provided a lot of food for farmers ... almost no one today hunts or eats rabbits , squirrels or birds (*like quail , doves) anymore

Simon1 · Mar 2, 2016

How long is that barrel ? Looks somewhat short, but not unheard off.

R Digger · Mar 2, 2016

I have it soaking in WD-40, we will see what comes of that! Lol. I'm still confused though, in my second pic it has that piece of metal on the end with what appears to be a hole for a percussion cap or something. I am by far no gun expert, Hoeven I have seen double barrel combos before, I just wish it wasn't so rusted. I also didn't mention this but there was this pipe sitting right next to it, now that I'm thinking about it, it could be another part of the barrel?? The OD is exactly the size of a dime.

NOLA_Ken · Mar 3, 2016

It's a percussion gun, the plugged breech is all you need to see to confirm that. either there was a flaw in the breech on the blowout side, or maybe it got loaded hot either way, having the breech blow out like that would be absolutely terrifying at least until you knew your face was still in one piece.. I would imagine the rest of it isn't far away.

The other part I don't know, I first thought ram rod guide, but it's a bit longer than I would expect...

H-2 CHARLIE · Mar 3, 2016

Banner its cool as anything else up there .

tamrock · Mar 3, 2016

That gun could have belong to Elmer Fudd after Bugs Bunny stuffed a carrot in the muzzle.

Icewing · Mar 3, 2016

Looks like someone may have loaded modern ammo in a shotgun made with Damascus Steel barrels and their shortsightedness resulted in it blowing up in their face... literally.

ivan salis · Mar 5, 2016

well a over sized---excess black powder powder load will blow up a old gun - and any kind of modern smokeless powder is a giant no no in any blackpowder based weapon ...the modern powder burns much faster making for a much greater pressure load .. causes the barrels to burst ....like having a hand grenade go off next to your head...not good .