My magic gun...

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Pukka Bundook

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Gents, this old John Blissett has been magic to me since I was a little lad.
Tony from Ormesby used to bike along to our farm on Normanby road after work of whenever he could at harvest time to try for a pigeon or rabbit.
This old gun would be wrapped in a tatie sack and tied to the cross bar.
When he was coming frequently, he would leave if in the grainary in its sack.
As a little lad l thought it was the most beautiful gun l had seen, and used to sneak up into the grainary and look at it.
Time passed, the farm was taken for developement, and we moved to near Scarborough.
As a teenager, I got in touch with Tony again, abd he came on occasion and did a bit of shooting.
l finally asled if he ever wanted to part with it, would he ket me know.
Upshot was I traded him for a near new Spanish boxlock.
We both thought the other was mad!
Had it ever since, done lots of shooting with it, and the magic hadnt worn off yet!...
And lm 71now.
Was made in the 1860's.

All best
R.
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Lovely. There’s something about hammer guns that makes them so satisfying to shoot. Shame, if it was over in the UK it’d be imminently restricted to bismuth loads. The engraving is exquisite and shows very little sign of wear. It’s certainly been well looked after - hessian sack or otherwise…
 
thats a beautiful looking gun whats the wood like on it?, have you checked the proof? is it blackpowder, or reproofed for nitro?
and my biggest question, is about the hammers and barrel chambers. was it converted from a pinfire? only i noticed the chambers have what looks like a patch each.
makes it even more interesting.
 
Chivy,

It is only black powder proofed.
Tony fed it Grand Prix all the years he had it, and I must admit I fed it some nitro as a lad, but now I use black as I always have it on hand.
No choke of course but seems to shoot as far as any other gun.
Yes!
It started out as a pinfire, and was converted by a blacksmith or some such.
The hammers were pretty square when I got it, so filed them up as they now are as a teenager. Blacked them by heating and dumping in linseed oil and they have stayed black all these years.
Very nice locks, Joseph Brazier, Ashes.
Ashes being his Wolverhampton workshop.
I will try to take some pics of the stock today, Chivy.
Apart from some bad dings from the bike riding, it is very solid.
It Did soak up a lot of linseed for a start, as it was dry and bleached looking. Has that nice brown rather than red coulour we think of as English English walnut, but still probably French!
locks...
standard JB Ashes..webp
 
very nice locks, it has had a hell of a life, the wear on that wood shows how much use its had.
good to see it lives on as a gun.
 
Chivy,
Tony hadn't had the "Harrier Deluxe" long after we traded, before he bust the stock into pieces bashing a fox over the head with it!
He said, "The old gun never broke when I did that!"
I felt a cold sweat at the thought of him using the Blissett as a club!
I took the Harrier back and pieced the stock together, and with the aid of dowels and Araldite glue, got it back together.
Every year at Christmas I would get a card, and a note, saying "The Harrier is still going strong".
then one year no card or note, and Tony had passed over.
It was in three or four pieces that stock, bust right through the action.
 
pukks,
sounds like tony was a charmer. but then again ive had mates who borrowed a gun and fetched it back in bits. always thought to ask "what do you want it for, and how do you intend returning it" afterwards. still you cant hold that against a friend.
 
Lovely piece, a shooting buddy left his gun on the roof of my Triumph convertible, the sag let the gun stay put 'til the first 30mph bend, I had work to do on that.
 
Hi Pukka Bundook....Absolutely beautiful gun. Brilliant history and your relationship with the old owner and the gun is truly priceless. All credit to you for treasuring the gun and using it as it should be used whilst looking after it well. Lovely, just lovely and how things should be in my humble opinion. Hat doffed to you Sir.
Cheers
Chris.
 
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