Thanks for the load info guys!

Tinker,

definitely I’m not underestimating the sophistication and craftsmanship here. On the contrary I’m more and more impressed every time I handle this gun. I want to stress however, that I’m truly a newbie with BP era doubles. Also, I've got chance to examine only a few nitro DRs. I have read a lot of them, though, as I started to collect books on them a couple of years ago or so.

Regarding the ring in the right chamber my theory was more of a speculation. I just took a closer look down the bores and to be specific there is a fairly perfect ring around the chamber. The distance of the ring from the breech does not seem to vary but it is 50-51 mm all around (sorry about the metrics). I also measured the chamber length and it is interesting that there seems to be a 0,5mm difference between the barrels; right is 70,9-71,0 mm and the left is only 70,4 mm. I’m not sure but I guess this might suggest that something has been done in the right chamber. Toolmarks, on the other hand, look about the same in both chambers, but I’m not an expert. The reason for the ring might very well be corrosion, as you suggested.

All in all, the ring ‘bulge’ is very shallow, and I’d suggest it will not interfere with the extraction.

Unfortunately I don’t have Cerrosafe at hand. Have to add it to my list as I make my next order from abroad, as I’d need it in my other ventures also. Finnish market is so small that special stuff has to be ordered from elsewhere. (In the next few lines there will be bad publicity for Midway. Somewhat childish complaints, I admit, but I'm pissed. In case you do not want to learn more, please skip to the next paragraph) ---- Midway has a branch in Finland, though, but their prices are terrible comparing to MidwayUsa, and they seem not to have anything in stock, but they just order all of the stuff from the headquarters in U.S. Once I tried to order online from the MidwayUsa, and as soon as I filled out the ‘country’, there was an announcement that “Please contact your local Midway distributor” or something like that. Last thing I desired from their catalogue was a bird’s head grip frame for my Ruger Single Six and the Midway prices were 149$ (in US) vs. 292€ (here). In the real world 149$ converts to 113€ (and on the other way round 292€ is 382$), so there seems to be a fair share for shipping&handling in the MidwayFinland’s price.

NitroX,

many thanks for your words of welcome! My intention was not by any means to complain about the long registration time. I was just eager to start asking questions about this rifle, and I felt I just couldn’t wait. I registered on Oct 10, requested about the processing of my registration on Oct 12, and got approved on Oct 16. No harm done, really.

It is just so that H. sapiens modernicus really isn't so good at waiting for things to happen. Everything has to fall into his hands promptly, and that’s kind of a pity

You can very well upload the images onto the server. I’m just glad if they’re good enough for that purpose. Please let me know, if you would like to have full screen resolution, and I’ll arrange that. As I recall, the current photos are some 500 pixels wide. Could be better, but I just made those for easy loading.

Great forum you have here. Thanks for that, John. I sincerely hope I have time to stay around in the future also.

Marrakai,

you said it! Packing between the barrels. As soon as I had sent my last mail, and went to bed, I started to figure that “What if... what if there is a wedge under the top rib somewhere in the middle of the barrels”… kind of funny.

BTW, what is the distance between the standing breech and hinge pin in your .577 conversion Greener Empire? I could ask this in another occasion, but it just popped to my mind here and now.

And I would just LOVE to shoot the rifle, but as I’ve said, the rifle is not mine, and I only got it for inspection so that I’m able to write the article I mentioned in my starting post. Furthermore, there’s that crack at the wrist, which would require a look before anybody could shoot the gun. I’ll pass all of your load info to the owner, though. He cannot speak or read English, and I’m certain that he’s more than happy to receive all that great information. And surely, I'll use it in my text also.

Regards,
Saku