Can you identify this rifle?

[massnee]

Can you identify this rifle?

This rifle was discovered in the early seventies in my friend's (he is 85) grandmother's house in Temple, NH. He found it under the floorboards. Can anyone help me identify it?

The manufacturer of the rifle is "t ketland & Co"

 

[mec]

Looks like it could be a shot gun- no visible rear sight. you might want to run that ramrod down the barrel and see if it goes all the way to the breach to find out if it's loaded or not.

 

[Chawbaccer]

Seems to be a fowler converted from flint.

 

[massnee]

Thank you for the input. The rifle was in tough shape when my neighbor gave it to me. The stock is completely broken. What is interesting is the effort someone put into the rifle to make it functional. There are a number of nails and screws placed in the rifle just to keep the stock on. My neighbor told me that his grandfather, who owned the rifle, fought in the Civil War. There is a manufacture engraving…but I cannot see enough of the letters to read it.

 

[massnee]

The manufacturer of the rifle is "t ketland & Co"

 

[Chawbaccer]

Ketland would be the manufacture of the lock, English, London I believe. Repros of them are pretty common today. The builder of the rifle probably was engraved on the barrel. Do you have any idea of the guage? Boy, wouldn't that gun have a story to tell, Wonder why it was hid under the floorboards?

 

[massnee]

I cannot find any markings on the barrel...it does appear to be a shotgun. The trigger mechanism still works.

 

[1911 guy]

It may be loaded.

As was mentioned before, run the ramrod down the barrel to see if it goes all the way to the breech. Many of those old smokepoles were stashed away loaded "just in case".

 

[massnee]

I have run the ram rod down the barrel. It appears to be hitting something soft...but still appears to be going all the way down...the soft material is probably rust.