Good post Dan. People need to see what a properly designed cap-lock breech looks like.

The first link didn't work for me, but the 8 bore does as well as the Pedersoli link. Comparing the two certainly shows the design ineficiencies of the Italian gun and actual danger of this gun's lock/fence design. It has good fences, but they are for show only as the nipples are proud of the fences and thus the fences provide nothing to the safety of the shooter. The very essence of a fence is to provide safety from flying cap fragments - their very reason for being. To provide a fence that does nothing, is to attempt to snow-job the prospective buyer.

I recently attempted to make a 'trade' for a .58 cal. double-gun Pedersoli. I wanted to experiment with that gun to find if the breeches could be 'repaired' as well as an attempt to 'regulate' it to single sight use with round balls. Unfortuntely, the 'deal' fell through. I was even prepared to trade a Ruger #1 or a $1,500 valued Penn. Flintlock rifle for it, just to complete my experiments. Oh well.

The first picture is of the H Whall, approximately 1860'ish, ball and shot gun. It is .75 cal.(11 bore), smoothbore, without rear sight, but has much heavier breeches than needed for a shot gun. It's weight at 10 pounds for a single also spells out it's original intent as a ball gun also capable of shooting shot. It shoots well with a .715" lead ball, either pure lead or WW alloy, with a .020" denim patch. It patterns well to 30yards with 1 1/8Oz. shot and normal card, fibre and "B" overshot wads. I borrowed this gun for some smoothbore competions at a 10 day rendezvous a few years back. I even won a second or third with it in a conbined shot and ball event, never having fired it before the 'shoot'.

The second gun is a 'modern' 'repro' with a properly designed breech - showing good breeches are eaisly available. There is no need to produce unsafe guns. Both the H.Whall and the modern made muzzleloaders need spent caps to be pried from the nipples as the hammers don't lift off the cap when fired. Due to having good leaf mainsprings, not coils, normal loads in the 3 dram arena react like a sealed breech. Heavy round ball loads will allow slight gas excape which lifts a couple petals of the cap for easy removal. At no time are there cap fragments flying, which happens with cheap locks like the Pedersoli's, TC et'al.