A neat blunderbuss ... probably loaded

[fernando]

These are the first pictures.
The shortest blunderbuss i got; total length 61 cms (24").
The barrel, contary to most usualy seen (over here) was originaly made for a blunderbuss ... no cut offs and no muzzle swellings, as it all appears. Length 29 cms (11 1/2").
So amazingly the stock is longer than the barrel!
The conversion to percussion looks rather professional (arsenal ?), with brass filling on the emptied area, a sturdy hammer and a military chimney.
The lock plate inside is signed OTTERO, sounding Spanish; could either be the maker or the converter (?). This name puzzles me a bit, as i thought this gun was British; but that was just intuition.
OTHH there is a tiny mark on the plate face that looks likew a J under some symbol; the type of punction letter used by French inspectors.
So i am lost on what counts origin ... which drives me mad.
Suddenly i had the feeling to lurk inside the barrel, before i blew it, as always, to check if it is clean, and i discern some paper plug. I pick up a stick and compare lengths between outside and inside the barrel, and over an inch of space is occupied by something.
Could it be that this thing is loaded?
I have to see what has to be done about it ... and how.
Coments on either gun and load are welcome.
Fernando

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[fernando]

Alright guys,
The possible load of this gun was a false alarm .
I have just taken off the paper plug ... and nothing else was there.
I blew it and the air goes through.
The paper is part of some kind of receipt, issued by an old Portuguese bank, back in 1953.
So fine i won't have any troubles extracting the load from the barrel.
... and the little paper becomes collectable, attached to this blunderbuss.
In this case the gun may not be Portuguese, but has been around for a while .
Fernando.

[Philip]

Congratulations, it's a good-looking piece but I can't understand why a hand-cannon aficionado like yourself is suddenly interested in such modern arms!

It would have been nice to have had this thing in hand last night during our Independence Day festivities, to fire a blank charge or two or even using a reduced load to propel a flare into the sky. Of course our town constabulary frowns hard on this but most of the little cities in the area had public fireworks displays going on almost simultaneously, so with all the tremendous aerial explosions, how could they have noticed one more loud report?

Regarding old guns being loaded, this is a lot more common than one would expect. I've had a few come into my possession, and have been told that one accidentally discharged once in the conservation workshop of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Gun shops that cater to shooters of muzzle-loading guns sell rods with threaded ends that take various auger-screws and "worms" for extracting charges. A collector who doesn't have access to these suppliers can have a local mechanic make these. Steel rods about 6-7 mm diameter can be welded or brazed to a large coarse-threaded wood screw to make a ball-extractor. A T-shaped handle on the other end makes it easier to use. A disc-shaped section of wooden dowel just smaller than the bore size, drilled in the center for the rod, will help center the tool when boring into the bullet. For extracting cloth or fiber wads (as in shotguns or fowling pieces), a similar tool using a corkscrew bit is ideal.

[fernando]

Thank you dear Philip,
I can't help being simultaneously fond of various types of weapons; a sort of eclectic collector, to give it a pompous name .
Collecting, for some like me, may imply in a rotation of the items; you gather them as you see them, love them while you have them, and one day you let them go, in favour of the ones you like more.
I know there are some who only gather what they have elected, and others who gather all they come across and keep everything.
I reckon i don't belong to these two groups because, on one hand i am a convict consumer and like to acquire the most varied things but, on the other, i don't have the space (volumetric and financial ) to maintain all gathered stock.
So, time allowing, i try and end up refining my inventory ... hand cannons having a previleged position .
Thank you so much on the hints on how to extract loads.
In this specific case it sufised to make a hook with a strong paper clip, attach it to the tip of a shotgun cleaning kit rod that i had bought in a flea market and, at the second atempt, the paper 'wad' came out.
The impression that there was more than just the paper inside the barrel is because the breech base was rather thick.
Meantime i am still strugling to find the origin of this gun .
Best
Fernando

[kahnjar1]

Hi Fernando,
Nice Blunderbus. I notice that it has a belt hook. Quite a large piece to hang on ones belt I would have thought!
Stu

[fernando]

Hi Stu,
This is the shortest blunderbuss i got, as also one of the shortest you may see out there ... before you start consider them blunderbuss pistols.
I have 'longer' ones also with belt hooks. Well, belt hook is a mode of calling them, as indeed they were (also) hanging from baldrics, used across the chest and also hanging devices on horse saddles.
Fernando