My first boomstick

I try to be mindful of where my hands are at all time when messing with this thing, if some component does catastrophically fail I want to be sure it doesn't take a finger with it!

I've got a question for you Mr Bookie: as I understand it, when I pull the cock back far enough to fully expose the sear hole, the sear should pop out and keep the cock from moving forward until I pull the trigger. My question is: what pushes the sear through the hole when you pull back the cock? Is it the tumbler? Or is some leaf spring supposed to do it? Because even with the cock fully back that sear doesn't pop out. Nothing's impeding it, but also nothing's pushing it out as far as I can tell.


I think all this lock would need to be operational is to be completely disassembled, each component wiped off with damp cloth, the reassembled with a drop of oil here and there.
 
Blue, I believe you have a component on holiday and is in another part of the Great Blue Marble.
 
I think you're right. Either a piece is missing or I have a fundamental misunderstanding of how this lock is supposed to work. For instance, the Wikipedia snaphaunce article has pictures of a lock both cocked and fired from the inside and out.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe...0px-Snaphance_Lock,_External_View,_Cocked.png
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe...0px-Snaphance_Lock,_Internal_View,_Cocked.png
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe...00px-Snaphance_Lock,_External_View,_Fired.png
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe...00px-Snaphance_Lock,_Internal_View,_Fired.png

The mechanism looks nearly identical to mine except mine doesn't have a pan cover. But even in these photos of a working lock I can't see what force is supposed to pop that sear out when you pull back the cock....
 
image.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpg

Second boom stick! Seller says it's a 18th century military musket converted in the 18th century to a hunting musket. I don't know if that means it started its life as a flintlock and was converted to percussion or what.
 
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Looks nice! Yes, it's a converted flinter to percussion of which I believe the conversion took place in the mid-1840s. Regardless when, it was initially manufactured in the 19th century and I suspect in Belgium or perhaps Austria. The US government purchased many old arms from Europe and some were converted to percussion here, but most had been converted in the home country in order to fulfill a fat contract and unload a bunch of undesirable/obsolete weapons. The arms were sound for the most part and pretty well maintained, so your purchase ought to be a good, solid 200 dollar investment and make a great shot-gun! Lucky you.
 
Woohoo! The seller said it'd been sitting in an attic so hopefully it just needs a good cleaning
 
Sounds like there is a lot of hope Boomstick2 won't need quite the amount of work to be a safe fire-able toy. Still wanting and waiting to hear more of the saga of Boomstick1 though too. Here is hoping some Hoppes and loving basic maintenance is all Stick2 needs.
 
That'd be great if this one just needs to be dusted off and it's ready to go. With the other one , I've ordered some kroil to see if it'll do the trick. If not it's off to Dr Bookie for a checkup.

Hopefully the barrel will have some distinguishing marks that'll help me determine its origin, but from a distance it looks a lot like a 3rd model Brown Bess

http://www.militaryheritage.com/musket1.htm
 
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Dang, I was going to hang it over my mantle and make up some story about how it belong to my great grandpappy.
 
I think I got it, I think I got it. Simclmbo? I'm mentally challenged on some of these abbreviations but I got this one.

I won't let the cat out of the sack in case there's anyone more mentally challenged than I.
 
Now that I think about it, my 10th great grandpappy spent much of his life fighting Iroquois up in Canada. This would have been in the late 1600s/early 1700s, so he probably used an older musket than this model.
 
Well, Blue. You can't receive PMs, so here is the message I attempted to send:
Good morning, Blue. There are many details to share with you and even with that, I am missing some. There are my immediate observations and in no particular order:
1. Pan cover spring & screw missing.
2. Pan cover, pin, operating arm, and attachment pin/screw missing.
3. Pan cover pivot arm and pin missing.
4. Sear arm bent.
5. Dog lock inop. May only be incomplete (very common on new locks to Morocco.)
6. Battery (frizzen) spring external bridal missing.
7. 5 modern machine screws installed.
8. Pan oval end piece ground down.
9. Pan not original to lock and pan mount broken in two recently. Perhaps to make fit to sell.
10. Lock is Dutch or perhaps English--no way to tell for sure in most cases.
11. Cock buffer all original, complete with original screws.
12. Cost a few hundred dollars to repair and make operational.
13. Lock is very common until mid 19th Century.
14. Lock has many wheellock features/components! Early design normally means older lock --1600s.
15. Decoration pretty much worn off altogether. Acid probably not bring it back out.
16. Lock never used that much.
17. Outwardly this lock is possible circa 1800, but believe older.

Not a great lock by any stretch of the imagination, but a great conversation piece and worth hanging on the wall! You may share this with whom you like.
 
Dang it, I guess it's time to renew my blade forums membership. I'll renew it tonight and send you a pm

Thanks for looking at my lock! I'm bummed it's not an easy fix but I'm happy it has some antiquity to it. Makes you wonder what kind of service it saw back in its day.
 
image.jpgSecond boom stick arrived. Lock is a little stiff but functions perfectly. Only mark I can see on it is the guard over the trigger. A small A over a W.

W with a crown over it could be Prussian or English, not sure about this one...
 
I've been messing around with my new toy, it seems super sturdy. The lock engages at half and full cock and fired from full cock. I dropped the ramrod down the barrel and it seems to hit the bottom, so nothing's stuck in the barrel. The nipple is a bit corroded but it looks like it's still structurally sound and unobstructed

I shined a flashlight down the barrel, the inside is a little pitted but no more so than the outside. Is that a problem? Does it need to be completely smooth? Other than that I think the thing is in shooting condition. Oddly there are no proof marks or armory marks anywhere on the thing except on the trigger guard. I posted photos on another site and somebody though it might be an Italian copy of French style musket.
 
Finally got this thing to cock! It takes a lot of pressure to make the sear engage the trigger. I need a stronger sear spring.

cocked.jpg
 
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