Need help identifying longarm

[Canebrake Rifle Guards]

Our exterminator brought this gun to me to help him identify. I don't know what it is. It look European, maybe Germanic. Its smoothbore however I think it was rifled and later bored out (its about an .86 caliber). No markings,
anyone know this gun?

Greg Starbuck

[M.Latham]

Re: Need help identifying longarm

Hello,

It's a Austrian Werndl re-converted to percussion, with some oddball parts thrown in for good measure; buttplate, Austrian M54 rear band etc...

These and Wanzel re-converts occasionally show up and are very dangerous to shoot either blanks or live rounds. Both were breech loading firearms reconverted by adding a patent breech, most I have seen are very shoddy and unsafe to fire.

These somtimes give rise to the "flintlock Lorenz" theory...

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Need help identifying longarm

Hallo!

Schtumped, sorry.

It appears to be a "drum in side" conversion of a flintlock, using unrelated parts (example the trigger guard and the "Schuetzen" style butt plate.

The band and nose cap, IMHO, appear Bavarian.

To a limited extent, the French and sundry pre 1870 Germanic "states" used back action locks as well.

Others will have to chime in...

Curt

[David Fox]

Re: Need help identifying longarm

Looks to me not unlike a variant of the "pirate muskets" sold through the Stoeger's catalogue sixty years ago, but perhaps one that fell into the hands of a person with a modest workshop, limited skill, and no taste. Some of these had a bizarre back-action flint mechanism, as this might have once been, and bits and pieces of European military weapons of the century before. If presently over .80 calibre, there's still too much barrel thickness for anything other than the Stoeger "elephant gun" version, which, as I recall, came with the hook buttplate illustrated here. Story was: African natives, restricted to muzzle-loader smoothbores, would scamper under the bellies of grazing elephants, point the muzzle straight up, touch-off the piece sending a sizable chunk of metal or stone into the beast's vitals, then (hopefully) scamper off to await the creature's eventual death. Yeah, right. Dixie Gun Works also sold these huge bore barrels and oddments of parts. When idling at Fort Sill as cadre in 1967 I acquired this exact barrel from Dixie: the octagonal breech and enormous calibre does give it away. Also acquired one of Dixie's crude round ball moulds to fit. I never built that elephant gun, but still have the mould.

Dave Fox

[ACo.]

Re: Need help identifying longarm

I think David has got it. I'll drag out the old Stoeger's catalog from my Grandfather's books and see if I can find something similar. They were made in Belgium from whatever parts were on hand so it is sometimes difficult to identify them.

[Canebrake Rifle Guards]

Re: Need help identifying longarm

Thank you Gents,

I've passed the info on to Louis, the owner of the gun. He was pleased to find out what that gun is. Also, we agreed that he should not try to fire it.

Greg Starbuck