Parts of two guns and a few odds and ends...

[aquachigger]

Here are some of my digs from the past few days. I had a couple friends in from Texas and we have been running around pretty much nonstop. Pictured are parts of two guns to include a double barrel shotgun and an octagonal barrel to a musket. I haven't been able to figure out what kind of musket it goes to. The bullets are in pretty good shape and most of them are Confederate. The little piece of silver is 1796 I believe.



Here are a couple shots of the silver Spanish coin...





Here is a partially melted Civil War bullet...



And an interesting out of focus ring too!



And a musket barrel...



Thanks for checking it out!

 

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[creskol]

Fantastic! You sure find some great stuff! .. Make sure you treat that wood!

 

[Getty]

Excellent recoveries AC!

 

[Mac232]

The silver is 1753 , great find !!!

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

I find it amazing that the wood stays preserved as long as it does in your rivers!
The water must be pretty clean and free of bacteria.

Will you do electrolysis on the metal gun parts?

Any marks on the ring . . . looks to be silver?

Very cool finds AC! 8)
Dave

 

[Briz06]

cool digs!!! ... That back half of an Over / Under shotgun is very cool

 

[Mortifercain]

after long deliberation i have decided i do not like aquchigger he is a dam ground HOG!! haha your a beast man and ill be your cheer leader any day keep it rollen

 

[kuger]

cool digs!!! ... That back half of an Over / Under shotgun is very cool

Not an over/under....its a side by side

Great finds Chig!!

 

[NOLA_Ken]

Hey, if you ever want to part with that shotgun lock, let me know. I think I have some parts around that'd make a nice wallhanger. The musket barrel looks to be a fairly common type, but if you clean it up, you might find a makers name engraved in it.

as always, I envy your finds!

 

[bigsprings]

Your side lock shotgun receiver looks familiar to a L. C. Smith, as did most... Parker, Le fever, and some higher end brand names. The side lock action was notorious for splitting the the stock where the sidelock met the hand on the grip. with the "new shells" non -paper and a heavier load. I would venture the frame dates no earlier than the teens lost by a duck hunter. The first trigger would be for the right barrel with a more open choke and the aft trigger would have provided a denser shot pattern on the left barrel. (FYI). There should be a serial # on the bottom of the receiver that accepts the barrel tang at the hinge. The finds you produce must be a result of your diligence.

 

[Woodland Detectors]

Again....Amazing!

 

[Born Free]

What's with all the guns in the water? Do people throw them in the river/creek/lake/ocean, etc when they don't work anymore?? Very perplexing.
You find way cool stuff!

Born Free

 

[jewelerguy]

you find the coolest stuff

 

[l.cutler]

Not a musket barrel at all but a rifle barrel. Very nice finds!

 

[kayden]

Sir,You are gonna need a bigger house to store all them coins & relics you find!

 

[aquachigger]

Your side lock shotgun receiver looks familiar to a L. C. Smith, as did most... Parker, Le fever, and some higher end brand names. The side lock action was notorious for splitting the the stock where the sidelock met the hand on the grip. with the "new shells" non -paper and a heavier load. I would venture the frame dates no earlier than the teens lost by a duck hunter. The first trigger would be for the left barrel with a more open choke and the aft trigger would have provided a more far ranging shot with the tighter choke on the right barrel. (FYI). There should be a serial # on the bottom of the receiver that accepts the barrel tang at the hinge. The finds you produce must be a result of your diligence.

Thanks for the info. I'll look for a serial number, but I think the metal is too far gone. AntiQ... I will do electrolysis on almost all of the iron. If it's too fragile, I usually just boil it in wax with the encrustations intact. It usually works, and makes for an interesting display, and I've been doing that for years. The ring is of a copper like material. and BornF... People throw all kinds of stuff in the water. Rivers/streams have been used as dumps forever. Well, at least until the gubment put a stop to it. I actively search for dump-sites, even ones from lone homesteads. And NOLA-K... the musket is about .54 caliber. Weren't Kentucky's usually much smaller in caliber? You make anything of that? Thanks for the comments everyone!

 

[NOLA_Ken]

.54 is a reasonable caliber to expect for Kentucky and Tennessee rifles actually. I've seen them ranging from .40 cal up to .60. It's too bad there's no drum on it, that would determine if it was flint or percussion.

 

[kevkirki]

always cool stuff...you da man

 

[HEAVYMETALNUT]

awesome stuff as usual!

 

[l.cutler]

Yes, .54 caliber would be a common caliber for a muzzleloading rifle, especially an earlier one. Too small to be a musket though, the smallest musket caliber I can think of would be .69. Musket barrels were generally round as well, not octagon. What is the length of the rifle barrel? Also, what is the diameter, and does it taper from the breech to the center, then flare out again at the muzzle? Or is it a constant diameter the full length of the barrel? Answers to these questions would help narrow down the age of the barrel.