Since I was a small boy I've had my eyes on an old muzzle loader that belonged to my grandfather (he never used it, but inherited it from older relatives - the history is unknown to me). It was stowed away in a hidden compartment under some floor planks in the attic in his childhood home. Fast forward some 40 years and I'm now the owner of this rifle and just recently began to restore it and figure out what it really was.

Turns out to be a model 1860 army rifle, once in the Swedish armed forces. The bore was made in 1864 and the mechanism in 1862. The stock is not an original, but still very old. Original caliber was about .50” but later on most of these rifles were sold for civilian use and farmers needed hunting rifles, so it has been converted (1870-1880 perhaps) to a shotgun with a caliber of .811” (21mm). Single led bullets works as well and is accurate up to some 50-60 yards at least. The .791” (20mm) casted bullets weight about 700 grain and gives a nice punch. Steel quality is rather high – much better than most contemporary European rifles, so it sure can take some heroic loads even though I’m a bit careful not to go too far.

Anyway, here’s some pictures from restoration and the first shots.

Cont...

...and a short film from the first tests. About half of a full load. German black powder specially designed for large bore muskets.

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Very interesting story and thanks for sharing!