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THOMAS BLAND & SONS - "EUOPLIA" - 12GA PARADOX GUN Hello All, I brought this over from another Forum because I'm so excited about the purchase that I wanted to share it here also. I've been looking for a Paradox Gun for about 4 years. Several have escaped me because they were too pricey. I took a real gamble on this Paradox Gun because the auction listing had a very skimpy description. This picture below was the only information that was listed about the gun. . . I didn't want to ask too many questions before bidding, because in the past it has resulted in the Auction House updating the listing which made it more desirable to all the auction watchers, and caused the price to shoot-up beyond my budget. So, I bit my tongue and took a gamble. The RED background photos are from the auction listing. The other photos are mine. Well, the gamble paid off in spades. I received a absolute MINT condition Paradox Gun, Factory Cased with matching bullet mold, loading tools, and cleaning accessories. Its hard to believe this gun is 127 years old. Here's the specs: 28" Barrels - 13-7/8" LOP - 7 lbs 6 oz - Rebounding Hammers - 2-Leaf Express Sight marked "50" & "100" Rib is marked "The "EUROPLIA" Ball & Shot Gun" - "T. Bland & Sons 430 West Strand London" Barrels marked "A&T" (Adams & Tate - maker) - Birmingham Proofed Matching Bullet Mold - Casts a Conical bullet - 790g RN & 730g HP Misc. Tools, Powder/Shot Measures, Loading Tube/Rammer/Decapper, Capper, & Wad Punch What's really amazing is the condition. All original finish in nearly 99% condition with full case-color remaining. Bores and chambers appear to be "un-fired". The only defect I could find was a small 1/16" chip off the tip of the toe of the horn butt-plate. My only question is: the end of the cleaning rod handle has a leather washer pinned to its end. What is this for? ... and, does anyone know who Mr. Shields might have been? As always, your comments are most welcome. |
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Very cool Buck! My only guess as to what the leather disc is about is that, when things get tight at the muzzle, one could whack on the handle of the rod with less worry of splintering it. The original advertisement says fully rifled but the flats indicate it is choked. Is it a rifle or a rifled choke gun? |
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Hello Huvius, Thanks for the reply. There is no choking to speak of. It is fully rifled. The “rifling” is of a form reminiscent of Charles Lancaster’s oval bore patent, with wide, shallow, “grooves”. They run full length, and, the rifling is barely visible as a pattern of light and shadow when the bores are held up to a light. This is typically called "invisible rifling". |
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Very Cool indeed, buckstix. I am surprised there is the paradox mould with the rifle, instead of a round ball mould, but then the word ball could as easily mean the paradox styled "ball". |
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Quote: Hello Daryl_S, Thanks for the reply. Yes, the English referred to any bullet as "Ball". Apparently a 1-5/8 oz to 1-3/4 oz bullet is the proper weight for T.Bland Paradox guns. That's 710g to about 765g - the range for a paradox Conical bullet. Suggested mix is 15:1 (15 parts lead to 1 part tin) Velocity should be in the 1,000 fps to 1,100 fps range. I'm casting pure lead in this mold which casts 790g with the round nose and 730g with the hollow point. My first load will be with 730g hollow point. I intend to load a low pressure charge of Unique to start with. |
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Excellent pick up Buckstix a seriously good rifle. I am sure you will have much pleasure owning and shooting it The case and accessories a real bonus The reason for the full length "invisible" rifling is probably that Fosberry's patent of 1885 was still extant (I assume it covered partial rifling) and that full length would not be covered by it Good luck shooting it and please keep us informed TH44 |
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Anxiously awaiting the shooting results, we are. |
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Very nice gun. It was my understanding that paradox guns were only rifled the last couple of inches of the barrels not the entire length. Is that incorrect? |
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Quote: No one could have put it better! Well done mate on such a grand purchase - very much looking forward to your results! |
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I think that was the "paradox", Wayne - that they would fire shot as well as slugs ("conical balls"). |
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Nice! I'll stay tuned for the field report. :-) |
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Quote: Hello TH44, Thanks for the reply. You might be right about the patent. Quote: Hello Daryl_S Thanks for the reply. I have brass coming and have already cast bullets. Quote: Hello Wayne59 Thanks for the reply. Different manufactures of paradox rifles had different methods of rifling. Some only the last 2 or 3 inches at the muzzle, some full length with shallow cut rifling, and some like this one with "invisible" rifling like that of Charles Lancaster's oval bore paradox guns. Quote: Hello tinker, Thanks for the reply. I'll keep you posted. |
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I am thinking that conical mould is for an explosive bullet. Lovely piece. Good allrounder as they were originally designed for. Look forward to the range report. Would have thought it would have had a ball mould as well. |
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Quote: Hello Heelerau, Thanks for the reply, The mold is designed to cast a conical bullet. The 2 nose pins allow for a round nose, and a hollow point. The deep hollow point is designed to give rapid expansion on thin skinned game. |
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You could experiment with explosive bullets, pm me if you like. I forgot to note the second plug that made a solid bullet. I reckon you will have a ball with this rifle, turkey with one barrel and black bear with the other !! |
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Hello all, Well, I've loaded some ammo for the range test tomorrow. I used the existing loading tools. I saw an interesting crimping method that Eley used for their ball loadings, so I made a tool to replicate that crimping method. It worked great. I opted to use a low pressure smokeless load so as not fowl up the rifle with black powder. Tomorrow I should have some shooting test results. |
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Wow they look pretty nifty there Buckstix! - how did you make that little gizmo??? Please enclose your 'recipe' as it is an invaluable source of information to us 'novices' when it comes to bore guns - sadly lacking in that field of knowledge for me! As an after thought - what was the original BP load/wads etc for these? |
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Quote: Hello 93x66mm, Thanks for the reply. The "gizmo" as you call it, was made from a brass 6-point "crimp-starter" insert from an old MEC 12ga shot-shell reloader. You could swap inserts to change from 6-point to 8-point crimps. Today they are made of plastic, but in the old days they were hardened brass. I had one laying around and got creative. Although they are no longer available, I see a few for sale on eBay for around $25. I cut it off, and to keep everything in-lined, I soldered in into a brass sleeve that is a snug slip fit over the brass case. I then opened up the center to allow clearance for the bullet's nose. I made a another tool that matches the shape of the bullet's nose, that presses the bullet down into the case as the crimp is being formed. It weighs about a quarter pound so all it takes is a couple of thumps with the palm of your hand to do the crimp. The pictures below tell the story. As far as my loading recipe goes, I'm using UNIQUE powder with Winchester brass cases. ?? grains of powder, covered with a tight fitting 1/8" thick card cut with the punch that came with the rifle, followed by five (5) 1/2" thick 12ga. fiber wads, with another 1/8" thick card under the bullet. Bullet was lightly finger lubed. I'm not going to publish powder weight until I have a chance to test it later today. Also, I'll first test the loads in a "cheap" modern 12ga double barrel shotgun to be on the safe side. When I dive into uncharted waters like this, (something I find myself doing quite often) I always try to be conservative. I don't want to harm this treasure. . . . . . . . . . |
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I've had good success with 8-point and 12-point sockets for this type of crimp on brass cases |
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Excellent innovations, buckstix, on the loading and crimping. You will have to keep the brass well annealed. With that much movement, maybe after each firing. |
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I agree with Daryl, the need to anneal the brass each time. Look forward to your range results. Clever use of the old brass crimp starter, well done. |
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Quote: Hello tinker, Thanks for the reply. Quote: Hello Daryl_S Thanks for the reply. I bought an induction annealed last year for doing my 700NE cases. That should work fine for these also. Quote: Hello Heelerau, Thanks for the reply. Here are the first range results. Not too impressive yet. But not a concern beause velocity for these should be 1000 fps to 1050 fps and and I'm at 855 fps. Increasing velocity should bring the shots together. |
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It's good to get it breathing. I'll be looking for the next update! |
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Yes - that looks great, so far. Hopefully the elevation difference won't change much. Individual barrels are grouping very nicely. Well done buckstix. |
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By the way - For those of you that asked about me making them a PARADOX SHELL CRIMPER .... I bought a crimping star at the Gun Show and made another PARADOX CRIMPER. $150 delivered - PM me. |
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thats a really nice set. i ended up with a cleaning rod like yours when i bought an old gergory clanker. least i know its english. |
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Hello ducmarc, Thanks for the reply. Did your cleaning rod also have a leather pad on the end of the handle? |
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Hello All, Here's the results from the last testing. I tested 5 different wad / card / bullet combinations. Groups measured 2-1/4" to 7" at 50 yards. Here's the best combination tested. Apparently this gun prefers a little harder bullet of 15:1 alloy, (BHN 11) and the heavier 790g Round Nose as compared to the 730g Hollow Point. I'll be testing this load formula again with both HP and RN bullets to make sure the results are repeatable. |
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It's always good to see progress! |
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Well done Buckstix! Another successful test(s) |
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Success! |
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** UPDATE ** I now have crimping tools available for 28ga, 20ga, 12ga, and 10ga. PM me if interested. |
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That is a cracking fine gun; remarkably similar to mine, but mine's not in nearly as nice condition, nor is it cased, much less with accessories. However, mechanically mine is sound and the bores are intact, making it a shooter. I'm more than a little interested to see the results of your shooting: mine regulated with round balls, and grouped 4-5" at 50; shot patterns not worth a damn; had a few sample fosberry bullets, but could not get them anywhere close to regulating; perhaps I need to get a mould and play some more with those, as you are clearly having some success with them, and with a matching mould, clearly the gun was made to use such bullets. Fine work, with a fine gun! |
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Hello cadet, Thanks for the reply I might push the velocity a bit higher, but I'm pretty much satisfied with the load shown in the target above. |
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Buckstix, Nice work on bringing those groups together! Could you give us some dimensions. What is the bore dia, rifling depth and twist rate? Also OL size and dia of bullet?. Thanks, Ed |
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Quote: Hello Longknife, Thanks for the reply. There is no depth to the rifling. This is an "oval-bore" = .725 x. 735 and the bullet matches at .735 as cast. Twist is 1 turn in 28". I load brass cases using a special crimping tool I invented. I offer these in the classified section to forum members at $150. http://forums.nitroexpress.com/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=335500&an=0&page=0#Post335500 . . . . . . |
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Another for comparison. https://www.gunsinternational.com/guns-f...un_id=101548927 |
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I've been making and selling a lot of my Custom Paradox Crimping tools ... Just made no. 30 for an 8 bore. |
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Quote: Any more luck with your testing Buck, did you get up to the desired velocity? |
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Buckstix, About how many reloads do you get with your brass cases after you use your crimping tool (or does it affect case life at all?). Thanks, Robert |
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HERE'S THE LATEST UPDATE ..... Since Feb. 2019 I've now made 56 paradox crimping tools for fellow shooters Many buyers of my crimping tools use them for loading cartridges for "bore rifles" in various gauges, not only for paradox guns. Here's an example. I just finished a very special Paradox Crimping Tool #56 for a 40mm 20ga Bore Double Rifle. The shell is only 1-1/2" long. |
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Definitely a great set for reading brass cases, much better then my pva wood glue method. |
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Quote: Hello 260rem Thanks for the reply here's an update .... I've been busy making paradox crimping tools for my fellow shooters. Here's the latest tools .. tool number 58 for 12 gauge tool number 59 for 12 gauge tool number 60 for 10 gauge and number 3 roll crimper for 12 gauge paper hulls thanks to all that had me make them a tool ... I am glad to make more if shooters need them. |
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here's an update .... I've been busy ..... this is tool number 64 for another big 8 gauge Thanks again to all that had me make them a tool ... I am glad to make more if shooters need them. Send me a PM |
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you need a stamp with a trademark, this will make it more easy for collectors in 100 years to identify the antique tools. "here we have a fine set of original "buckstix" 8 gauge crimper, hard to find" very nice machined tools! |
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One word: WOW!!!! |
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Quote:Hello, I had a stamp made with my initials, but decided that "BS" was not an appropriate stamp. |
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Quote:Quote:Hello, |
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Buckstix. Wow! What great work. I'd missed this thread previously. I think one for a 10-bore might be in order ... But no idea how or what to order. Wonderful products you've skillfully made. |