Need help identifying an OLD rifle..

[Patrick Chadwick]

Gents, we are drifting slightly off-target.

1) This is not a musket. It is a rifle. Intended to shoot a patched round ball. Caliber probably somewhere around 0.62". Approximately 20 bore, so round ball would weight 1/20 of a pound = 7000gns/20 = 350 grains. Noticeably less than a Minie of the same caliber.
2) Round balls can't tip. So forget Greenhill - they can be driven about as fast as the gun and your shoulder will stand. 100-yard velocities of over 1000 fps are attainable (see the Lyman Black Powder Manual).
3) The "bell tower" seems to have a vertical screw adjustment, so the elevation could be adjusted.
4) Usable range max. 200 meters/yards for target shooting. Forget the Brown Bess 6' target - a good shooter will still put most in a 16" black at 200. At 100 all will be within the 8" black, with most being within 4".
5) I have witnessed a competition muzzle-loader shooter score 100/100 offhand at 50 meters. That is every shot hitting the 2" ten ring.

A word to all nitro-shooters: do not underestimate what these old smokepoles can do!

However, the present object has obviously suffered a makeover at some time. The cutout for the decorative trigger-guard does not match well with the cutout for the mechanism. The shotgun-style button foresight is an anomaly for a target rifle and is optically inappropriate for the peephole backsight. The square-bottomed buttplate and butt suggests earlier 18th. C rather than later.

I would love to be able to take a really close look at this rifle. AFAICTWAHTOIMH the original would have been made 1760 +/- 30. That is not a forensic result, just a personal guess based on the optical impression.