Left to me by my Father. With it I took 1st place in 11 of 15 Schuetzen matches held locally (only 100Y), with two 2nd places and two events I missed. On my best day, whilst 17-degrees out, my Dad (~85yo) was spotting for me at the time - more for his benefit than mine, as I was dead-on that day. Shot after shot went into the center ... I think he was happier than I was!

I sent these pictures and those of the s/ns to Paul @ CPA and he assessed it as an early one, s/n 95X, that if I recall correctly, he believed to be a #X [I forget!!!] that was re-barreled to the #10 barrel, s/n 338XX . Next to the forend, that I believe is original, is the 1st forend hole, with the new one 3/8" further out on the forend.

(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

Believe it or not, I shoot it pretty good ... given that the cheekrest is on the WRONG side ... 

(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

This crack always 'concerned us', but we've read where Ballards will have what appears to be surface cracks on the metal in places. However, when looked at from the edge of the action towards the rear, there is no depth to it.

(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

Still, given a #1 action strength per Ken Waters, we never throttled it and he'd only let us shoot 255-grn 379s over 14.3-grns of 4759 out of it. My Dad probably shot thousands and thousands of rounds thru it.

I think he was shooting the #9 Union Hill in this picture, as the barrel looks slim:
(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

While I don't fully understand your text, it's a nice rifle. Thanks for sharing. Looks like a #9 with early hammer and #10 forestock.

Nice.

         Joe.

Does the serial number of the breech block match the frame?  # 10's and # 8's had double sets. Sure Marlinguy will chime in soon. 

    Joe.

[quote author=4C6566747933382D3535000 link=1391478559/0#0 date=1391478559]Left to me by my Father. With it I took 1st place in 11 of 15 Schuetzen matches held locally (only 100Y), with two 2nd places and two events I missed. On my best day, whilst 17-degrees out, my Dad (~85yo) was spotting for me at the time - more for his benefit than mine, as I was dead-on that day. Shot after shot went into the center ... I think he was happier than I was!


My Dad probably shot thousands and thousands of rounds thru it.

I think he was shooting the #9 Union Hill in this picture, as the barrel looks slim"


Thanks for sharing those photos of the gun and your dad.
Being able to spend time like that, both enjoying a shared interest and hobby, is worth more than any gun.
My dad's been gone since 1998, and I still miss his comradeship.

Funny how I didn't really appreciate him until I was married and out of the house.
Then he became my best friend.

By just the serial #, I would think the frame was made before 1878-1879.

Frank

There is a midrange 4 1/2 floating around with a small Swiss plate. A very nice one. 

No rebate on the pictured rifle, hmm?   

Never say never about old Ballards. Think it's Dutchers book that shows Milton Farrow holding an unidentified model Ballard. 

The man to ask is Bob Carrow. 

        Joe.

Thanks for the comments all! I'm inclined to think she's definitely a rifle cobbled together by a shooter, my reasoning - the non-matching s/n's and some build details - see below:

Action - S/n 95X, 1881 to 1882 per West's book.

Buttstock - English walnut, pistol grip, but non-checkered and ... wait for it ... uhhhh, glass-bedded to the action.

Buttplate - Hook type, offhand model, but brass with a marine bronze look, s/n 196XX.

Barrel - S/n 338XX, 30-1/2" long. 
-Octagonal section measures 1.140" at the action, 1.095" right before the transition to round
-Round section measures 1.060" at the transition with a non-visible (by eye) taper to 1.040" at the muzzle, with the counter-bored crown at the muzzle.

Forend - No s/n's seen, but it may be covered ... as it was glass-bedded to the barrel and the receiver, with a playing card thickness relief between action and wood. Does not appear to be English walnut.

Weight - Just a hair over 12-pounds, with the Pope-type palm rest installed.

So, with all that - a few more questions.

1) With the early s/n ... safe to shoot with reduced SR4759 loads? She digested 14.3-grns for years and loved it. But towards the end, my Dad hung this one up and just used his #9 Union Hill. He almost became fearful to shoot it - due to the combination of the low s/n and that crack/line on the action as shown above (which I've had looked at professionally, it doesn't have depth).

2) What would be a practical limit for black powdah loads? Or, should she be shot at all?

3) Being a "Franken Ballard", how would I ever get a value on this piece? I like to record everything I can about my toys, for estate or other purposes.

Thanks in advance, you guys have been great!

marlinguy wrote on Feb 6^th, 2014 at 12:20pm:

My bad, I did not realize buttplates are serialized on Ballards. A local marine machine shop examined the crack before, but I think it's tine for a pro report. Thank you for your help!