Man's inhumanity to musket!

[wolf57]

I was talking to a old fellow about the N-SSA and he said that he had an old musket in the basement that he might trade. I followed him down and in the dim light saw a sort of great looking M 1842 that had been turned into a lamp years ago. The fellow said that he had picked it up at a sale of some sort years ago. After a little trading I took it home. The barrel is 36 in. long, the lock works, 1851 date, copper mid band and I am not sure if it has a butt plate yet. So what do you guys think? Should we stretch it, make a 30 in Macon alteration, just take it out back and shoot the poor thing or leave it as an example of man's inhumanity to muskets? I have found that one can never have to many smoothbores. Hope the photobucket pics work.
Bert, 1st Reg. Eng
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j8/wo ... CF6942.jpg
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j8/wo ... CF6943.jpg
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j8/wo ... CF6944.jpg
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j8/wo ... CF6948.jpg
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j8/wo ... CF6950.jpg

[Steve Sharpe 0236]

That is just wrong!

[Rick Dunbrook, 08555V]

As one of the TV judges says on his show, " It's wrong, It's wrong, it's wrong!!!!!"

[wolf57]

whoever did this put this Springfield into about 2 in. of concrete...It may be like working on a fossil getting the stock and hopefully the butt plate out. There may be hope yet.
Bert

[Harry]

That reminds me of the 1980s comedy film The Great Outdoors when John Candy shoots the bear in the butt with the old muzzleloader rifle/lamp.

[William H. Shuey]

"Never trust a peasant with gold or a horse"!

Bill Shuey

[Bob Eschbach, 3380v]

Bert, I have a couple of nice lampshades I let you have. Bob

[Jim Strang]

Take lots of pictures during the excavation. Might make a nice photo-story page in the Skirmish Line!

[Tim Lyne]

Should the "artist" who did this be positiviely identified, I think their butt should be placed in concrete as well. Maybe they can become a useful appliance, a coffee table, parking pier, etc. Making a lamp of them would probably be the "brightest" thing they'd ever become...

Tim Lyne
Knap's Batt.
#2952V

[John Holland]

Tim,

You have missed the potential of this great discovery! It presents a completely new collecting genre...Gun Lamps ! ! ! Why, in my years of experience, I have seen many of them go unrecognized for their worthiness to be collected, or accumulated as the case may be. I have seen an Austrian Flint Lock Musket (with a lovely 1930's double light fixture), a German Dreyse 1862 Needle Fire (beautifully polished brass fittings), a near unfired Swiss Vetterli (with only 1" sawed off the butt to sit flat on the stand), a diminutive Springfield .45-70 Cadet (with the muzzle neatly threaded for the light fixture), an Austrian Lorenz (with a hole drilled through the breech plug for the lamp cord), and lastly an Austrian Lorenz with a Wanzel conversion (and a cord hole drilled through the barrel). OK....maybe I did buy a few of them. It is a great way to keep "the wife' off guard. You can picture it now....."John, did you buy another gun? No Honey, I just bought another reading lamp for the Den."

JDH