What is this?

W

wisconsinteacher

New member
Okay boys, I don't know what kind of rifle this is but would love to find out. Here is the background. This is my wife's greatgrandpa's rifle. There are no marks of any kind on it and her family really does not know much about it. I did not have anything to measure the muzzle with but was able to take a 30-06 bullet and get most of it to slide into the muzzle end. The action works but the trigger does not function. I would like to know if it is a real rifle or and worth trying to fix. Any info would be great.

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I'm probably gonna look like a fool here, but I'll take a stab at it.

Sometime around the end of the civil war, or shortly thereafter, the Govt. took some old Springfield muzzleloader rifles and converted them to breachloaders, what is now known as a trapdoor Springfield. I believe it used a paper cartridge, which was inserted at the breach and when the trapdoor was closed it clipped off the end of the cartridge, which created a primer charge. I really don't know how it was ignited. I really don't know much of anything about them, to be honest, I'm just guessing.

Any military arm the Govt was using at that time was a heavy caliber, 50 cal, give or take, so that's not what you have. My best guess would be that some gunsmith, copying the Springfield conversions, took a .30 cal squirrel rifle and converted it to a breachloader.

Ok, now everybody go ahead and laugh. I'm probably full of baloney, but I don't see anyone else making a guess. I've never seen a trapdoor Springfield, but I bet that's what the action looked like.

Dang thing might be worth a small fortune, or it might just be a conversation piece.
 
Wow that is a unique piece. 100% sure its not a springfield trapdoor good stab though. It appears to me to be original. Does not look to have been modified. Does the rifling come all the way to the end of the breach or is there a chamber in it? If its chambered you may have to make a chamber cast to get any idea of what it might be. Its kinda got a European look to it, but who knows.
That would be fun to tote around and see if anyone could tell you anything about it.
Good luck in your search. Keep us posted!

Shane
 
It's a Flobert, French or Belgian, if I recall correctly. I have one or two that belonged to an old friend. Usually old rimfire "parlor" or "gallery" cartridges. I understand they are not very strong actions at all and the cartridges were made with little or no powder in them as for indoor target shooting. Not worth much, but interesting.

Here's one link with a few opinions on them:

http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=440351
 
It's not like any trapdoor I've ever seen. If you want a better crowd for this type of work, check out castboolits.gunloads.com. The crowd seems a lot older and more into antiques then here.
 
I'll go out on a limb also and guess that it is a European gallery or Rook rifle, probly German or Belgium by the trigger guard. There was a straight case 30 cal cartridge called the 300 Rook and any number of proriety cartridges by the maker of the rifles. You might want to see if there are any proof marks under the wood, at least you would know country of origin. You might want to post in the Euro thread over at 24hourcampfire.com

Guess I was typing while Mike was, good call Mike
 
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Originally Posted By: reddog964Well looking at the Box! it looks like a Browning to me
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I appreciated that, brought a chuckle...
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Thanks for the help guys. I posted it on a few forums and found out it is a Flobert. 32 cal rimfire. The value is around 100-125. That made my wife laugh. She thought she had a family piece worth 10,000. I hope to someday get it and have a smith go over it and see if we can find some ammo and shoot it a few times. Next time I see it, I would like to look for some markings covered by the wood.

As far as the Browining. That is an X-Bolt in .243 that the father in law just got.
 
Originally Posted By: larrHere is a link for your ammo

LINKY

Those cartridges will NOT work, or be safe, in a Flobert rifle.

The Floberts use cartridges very similar to CB-caps. They were tiny and had a velocity of 150 to 200 fps.

They were used for shooting indoors for entertainment (called parlor rifles), and sometimes, for garden pests at 20 to 30 feet.

.
 
Originally Posted By: CatShooterOriginally Posted By: larrHere is a link for your ammo

LINKY

Those cartridges will NOT work, or be safe, in a Flobert rifle.

The Floberts use cartridges very similar to CB-caps. They were tiny and had a velocity of 150 to 200 fps.

They were used for shooting indoors for entertainment (called parlor rifles), and sometimes, for garden pests at 20 to 30 feet.

.

Yeah, it's NOT a 32 rimfire, it shoots stuff I don't think you can find anymore. Nice to hang on the wall - that's it. The actions not strong enuf to handle anything that would do more than pi$$ off a groundhog. And atthat price, who can afford to shoot it???!!! Now I see where the liberal dream of taxing ammo out of affordability comes from!!!
 
Originally Posted By: wisconsinteacherThanks for the help guys. I posted it on a few forums and found out it is a Flobert. 32 cal rimfire. The value is around 100-125. That made my wife laugh. She thought she had a family piece worth 10,000. I hope to someday get it and have a smith go over it and see if we can find some ammo and shoot it a few times. Next time I see it, I would like to look for some markings covered by the wood.

As far as the Browining. That is an X-Bolt in .243 that the father in law just got.

Quote:Yeah, it's NOT a 32 rimfire,

This is the reason I posted the link above, obviously, if he cares to shoot it, he would take the rifle to a competent gunsmith to see what round it is chambered for and if its even able to fire a round. Maybe the link I posted would help the OP a little on his persuit in finding the ammo it is chambered for.
 


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