Can you ID what's left of this old shotgun?

[BillM]

It's a pinfire. That's the means of ignition. 1840ish to maybe 1870.

 

[CamoDeafie]

@Andy54Hawken would be able to find someone with the mechanism and hammers

 

[HaveGun]

Thank you so much everyone! I'll call my dad and let him know. He's a retired Chief of Police and it was bugging him that he had no idea what it was.

 

[CLT65]

There were a myriad of different and unique shotguns produced in the late 19th/early 20th century. Some were made by well-known companies, but many thousands were made by small shops and gunsmiths, a cottage industry in Europe, primarily Belgium and Spain, as I understand.

A friend of mine has a Belgian Shotgun from that time frame. It's like nothing I'd ever seen before or since. It has internal hammers and firing pins for centerfire shells, external hammers and pin holes on top of the chambers for pinfire, and steel chamber inserts stored in the buttstock, for muzzleloading. The inserts had nipples that fit perfectly in the pinfire holes. One of the barrels as I recall had deep, straight rifling. It was beautifully engraved but worn from a century of use. It had proof marks but no branding. As I remember, he said a great-grandfather or some ancestor had ordered it from Europe in the distant past.

 

[Mikej]

@tac usually has a something for this kind of stuff too.

 

[tac]

That's a real mix-up, for sure. A side-by-side gun with a shotgun barrel and a rifled barrel is known as a Cape gun, from its usefulness as a multi-purpose game gun in that part of Africa. They also found use in India, too, in the days of the Raj.

Pictures would be much appreciated, if possible?

 

[CLT65]

That's a real mix-up, for sure. A side-by-side gun with a shotgun barrel and a rifled barrel is known as a Cape gun, from its usefulness as a multi-purpose game gun in that part of Africa. They also found use in India, too, in the days of the Raj.

Pictures wold be much appreciated, if possible?

Referring to my friend's gun, he lives a couple hours away. Next time I talk to him I'll ask him to send me some photos. As I recall, both barrels were the same gauge (16 I think), and the one that was rifled had deep, clean, straight grooves. The straight grooves confused me. I'm going from memory on this since it's been at least 10 years since he showed it to me, perhaps it was twist rifling and I'm thinking of something else.

 

[tac]

Nope, you are probably right - a lot of gunmakers experimented with so-called straight rifling, especially back in the Golden age of gunmaking - at least in the USA - 1780 - 1820. There is no saying that it didn't also happen in Europe later on - pin-fire dates from around the 1870s. BTW.

 

[DeanMk]

If its from Belgium and from the 19th / early 20th century, it might not be much of anything.
In those days, "Saturday Night Specials" came from certain parts of Europe, like Belgium.

Dean

 

[ParkerBoy]

It's a pinfire shotgun. I've tried to copy and paste a couple pictures that will explain the action and the pinfire ignition system. A little searching on Google will give you all the information you need. Your gun is most likely a Belgian Guild gun. Parts were made by different makers(specialists) and assembled by someone else and probably marked for some seller or distributer.




Sorry, It appears that C&P didn't work to supply the photos. Do the Google search on pinfire shotguns. Images.

 

[tac]

No shotgun could be described as a 'Saturday night special' - they took way too much skill and effort to produce. However, companies like Sears and Monty W were renowned for selling low-grade guns for the impecunious farmer and homesteader. I have a copy of the 1902 edition catalog[ue] which had shotguns from as little as $4.95. Remember that even if these little guns were cheap, whey were definitely NOT nasty. Every Belgian-made gun HAD to pass proof in Liége, the main centre of gun-making then, and now, and home to Fabrique Nationale [alma mater of none other than J M Browning Esq].

 

[DeanMk]

No shotgun could be described as a 'Saturday night special

You misunderstood what I posted.
I didn't say that shotgun was a saturday night special, only that those types of guns are known to have come out of Belgium during the later part of the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Being made in europe isn't always the mark of a fine gun.
You have to take the timeline and location into consideration.