saving a Peabody...

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outsidebear
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saving a Peabody...

Post by outsidebear »

This Peabody military rifle, .43 Spanish, came out of the swamps of Florida years ago. Original barrel length was 33" (the remaining 14"'s of barrel looked like a sewer pipe inside - yes, it'd had a 3" stub welded on the front end of the barrel, in order to ship this antique lawfully). The original full length military forearm had been cut back to accommodate the 14" barrel. Along somewhere in it's life it wound up in the Florida swamps. Some swamper cut the barrel back to 14", the wood suffered neglect and most likely spent a lot of time in a pirogue chasing alligators? Think of how handy a 14" barreled single shot .43 Spanish carbine would be for shooting gators from a pirogue.

I obtained it a few years ago, with thoughts of having it returned to a usable working rifle. Re-used the original butt stock (wood is a bit 'aged'/work worn) and left the action as it came from the swamps of Florida. The old forearm had seen better days and wasn't workable with the new 28" octagon barrel. A new forearm was added, even splurged for a pewter forearm tip! Of note: since this picture was taken, gunsmith burned the forearm with BP in oil, to darken it more so to match the butt stock color. Trigger pull is still 'infantry rifle' stout, some work remaining to do to reduce the heavy pull.

As the pictures show, the gunsmith did a fine bit of workmanship and it now launches lil' lead pills downrange from a .38-55 Win chamber. Have had it out shooting once since it came back to me. My .38-55 Win ammo loaded with cast bullets is with .379 bullets, whereas this new barrel is a .375 bore, so will load .377 for use in it, keeping the two loads separate from one another. ah yes, there's always a project...
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Re: saving a Peabody...

Post by Archer »

Cool!

Not sure how handy a .43 Spanish is as I don't think I've seen that ammo anywhere on the shelf.
outsidebear
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Re: saving a Peabody...

Post by outsidebear »

Original chamber was .43 Spanish, new barrel is chambered in .38-55.
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Re: saving a Peabody...

Post by Archer »

Understood, but .43 Spanish in the Florida swamps might not be the easiest to find since that's the origin you mentioned.
outsidebear
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Re: saving a Peabody...

Post by outsidebear »

Don't know the full background/history of the rifle when it was a .43 Spanish chambered rifle, then the barrel cut down as it had been, but after the turn of the Century, 1900, there would have been plenty of old surplus ammunition around, and on the cheap as well, so they(?) could have had enough ammo on hand, back in the early first half of the 1900's???? Not for sure of course, but would tend to think so. In the early half of the 1900's you couldn't hardly give away most of them old military single shot rifles, while ammunition for them would have been around via surplus at the time. Think back to Bannerman's doings n' sales. The previous caretaker of this old iron had had it for 30-some years and it had been sitting around idle in Florida for lonnnng before that. No one will ever know the history this old iron's seen in its day . . . but now it has a breath of new life into it and lives again to wander the woods n' hills.
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