[Vikingsean711]

This shotgun belongs to my wifes grandfather(she took the photos sorry if they aren’t helpful) and he apparently got it from his father but we don’t know it’s history before that. None of use are all that knowledgeable about firearms so we were hoping someone here might be able to identify or at least tell us more about this old shotgun.

 

[Stamps6]

Pictures of any markings on the barrel would be very helpful. Look for any ingravings/stamping or pictures of cryptic symbols are very important.

 

[Square target]

That might not be a shotgun. It looks like a black powder musket that was converted to a breech loading rifle. many different guns were done by different people, some on a very small scale and others on a large scale like this .58 Enfield that was converted into a .577 snider breech loader. Some are quite rare while others are not so much but none of them are real cheap to buy. Look down the barrel and see if you see any rifling. Never seen one of these conversions that was a shotgun but i guess that's possible too.

 

[BillM]

Google "Zulu Shotgun". Interesting history. Originally a French muzzle load rifled musket, converted to cartridge use in the mid 1860's, then converted to a shotgun by the Belgians and sold all over (you could buy one from Sears) for around $3. Looks like you got a nice one. Most I've seen are in poor shape. DO NOT stuff a modern smokeless shotgun shell in it and shoot it--it was made for a shorter shell and black powder.

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Vikingsean711]

Thanks for your help and advice. We will probably bring it to a professional at some point. If I can get some more pics at some point I’ll post them.