my very old gun

[Mr.mike]

Hi, i found out that my (im dont know how many greats) great grandfather made and patented a gun he made. It's supposedly from around the time of the Civil War and has been passed down through my dads side of the family. I'm wondering if anyone had seen or heard of anything like this.
Its like a bolt action rifle, you have to pull back the chamber, load in a bullet, close it, cock it and then shoot. You cock and shoot it with the 2 little buttons behind the chamber(no trigger). If you were to hold it the left button cocks it after its been loaded and then the right button shoots it. The whole gun is about 3ft long just eyeing it.
J. W. Hardie
New York
is stamped in to the metal right infront of the chamber. The JW Hardie is the great grandfathers name.
The front sight is just a little thing that pokes up and the back sight is a little 2 part thing you have to flip up and you can adjust it to diff positions.
Yes i know the pictures arent the greatest things you've ever seen, im sorry.
http://img64.exs.cx/img64/2259/gun5.jpg
http://img64.exs.cx/img64/41/gun6.jpg
http://img64.exs.cx/img64/9140/gun7.jpg
So, what do you think?

Oh yeah its in amazing condition too, only problem is the wood frame under the barrel on the right side has a little crack.

[warthog2t0]

That One Sweet Looking Gun!

[Mango]

That is ultra-rare considering I think that is the only one that exists. Quite an oddity. Your grandfather invented that, if memory serves correct, because he didn't have any fingers. What calibre is that do you know offhand? I have to find the book that I first saw it in.

Take excellent care of that because I'm sure someone would pay big bucks for it. :D

[PyRo]

It's worthless, i'll give you $200 for it :) j/k

That is pretty cool though.

[wispaintstyle]

that is one cool firearm, Its rare that I think something is cooler than my WZ-48.

[Army]

If that is indeed the only working example, you have a wonderful piece of American ingenuity. As I can find absolutely no refference to it in any military arms books that cover the 1840-1899 era, I must conclude that it never went to production. Hundreds of rifle designs during the War of Northern Aggression were found to be unworthy of military duty, or were too costly to produce.

It is obviously a carbine, with military intentions by the look of it (resembles the Sharps and Hall carbines of the day). I estimate the caliber to be no more than .36, but could be a .44 rimfire also of the Sharps design. The cartridge could not be too powerful, as shooting the piece would put your thumb directly behind the recoil shield. Heavy recoil would rapped the tip of the thumb harshly.

All in all, a proud heirloom to be cherished and bragged about.

[PyRo]

the War of Northern Aggression

I told you they called it the war of nothern aggression., silly southerners probably don't know they lost yet :)

[mcveighr]

haha, i was thinking that too.

[TransMan]

I told you they called it the war of nothern aggression., silly southerners probably don't know they lost yet :)
Its not over yet we're just takin a break ;)

[BeaverEater]

That looks like a cool concept gun but do you know if it works/ever worked?

[magmanl337]

It is definately not form the civil war era. During that time there were no bolt action rifles, just flint lock ones

[mcveighr]

Thats actually not true.

[TDonovan]

Yeah from what I learned in history class Springfield was commissioned to make a bunch of bolt action rifles somewhere near the mid-end of the civil war. I could be wrong, but that's just what I remember.

[TMAXXKING1]

when was the last time that thing was fired .. i wouldnt go testing it if it has been a long time since the last time its seen action .. real nice peice though ...

[Head knight of Ni]

It is definately not form the civil war era. During that time there were no bolt action rifles, just flint lock ones

:rofl: tell that to the now disenfranchised Volcanic arms co./Winchester. or good old Dr.Gatling.

[Destructo6]

The big thing during the US Civil War, rifle-wise, was still the muzzle loaded rifled musket. The Springfield versions were later converted to breech loaders (Trapdoor Springfield). Some repeaters, like the Henry, were also used.

To the best of my knowledge, bolt actions were not used in the US Civil War.

The first bolt action was invented in 1829, but generally languished until Peter Paul Mauser, in 1860, came up with his design that was eventually developed into the Model 98.

Are you sure that is a true bolt that seals off a chamber (images not at all clear) or is it a cover for a nipple + percussion cap setup? Like a modern inline ignition muzzle loader?

http://www.shootingtimes.com/shootingtimes/longgun_reviews/STinline_0323A.jpg

Yep, that's a muzzle loader, the bolt just acts as a cocking mechanism and allows access to the priming nipple.

[Mr.mike]

It hasn't actually been fired in a long time but you can "dry fire" it and it sounds fine. I don't know what calibur it is. And you're probably right that its not bolt action i had no clue what i was talking about.

Going to put up new pics soon