It was a 8ga O/U muzzleloader with sidehammers - no half cock notch. Made it with a monte-carlo stock and recoil pad and I think now it was more like 20lbs - my 48" barrel 54cal flinklock chunk gun weighed 15lbs. Anyways, three of them were made. One for my friend who made the locks and triggers, one for the brother-in law who made the barrels, and one for me - I inletted, stocked, browned the barrels and finished them up. First year couldn't hit anything because I was shooting buck shot - 30, 30cal round balls. That was when the brother and I were going down a lane in his pickup and he wanted me to unload it. The gun ws resting against the seat between us and I bent over decapping the top barrel. When I tried to take the second cap off the hammer slipped out of my finger touching it off. BIG BOOM. I was just dumping the buckshot down the barrel after the OS wad. Was told latter if you do that the balls will try and squeeze in the air pockets as they go down the barrel. They should lay in flat layers. Anyways, I patterned the gun with #2 shot [ and had choked the barrels about .010 ] and they would cover an opened newspaper at 60yds. Gun shot great after that.
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Paul Harm
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