Help with muzzle loader I D

[crow_feather]

I recently found an old rifle - that I load from the muzzle - it was rusty on the exterior and I can only make out certain letters and numbers.  There is an "W" with other obscure letters after it and a "70"  Possibly made in 1870?  There is a bolt where you put a piece of brass that holds the percussion cap - I'm not sure if what size cap- you pour powder down the barrel and pound down a lead slug of approx 36 caliber.  It seems to be a Rifling Engraved At Loading bullet  (Like the Lee R E A L bullet).  You can clean it from the breech by pulling the brass cap holder or from the muzzle.  I've tried black, 777, and but can't seem to find pellets small enough.  One person said that it might also shoot smokeless if I'm real careful with the charge.  The same person said that when scoped, these muzzle loaders shoot good out to almost 300 yds if you stoke it up a bit.  There was no ramrod with the piece when I found it in the attic of my neighbor's house.

[Tbaus]

What ever you do, DO NOT PUT SMOKELESS POWDER in the gun! That is a good way to hurt yourself and blow up the gun. Now...  I don't understand your description. You say something about a bolt. Do you mean like a bolt action or are you describing something like a screw?  Is there and external hammer? Does the hammer fall from rear to front on the top back of the gun? ( as opposed to a side hammer or an under hammer) Is there a lock (plate the hammer is attached to) on the side of the gun? Is the barrel octangular or round? Does the gun have a nose cap and or a butt plate? If so, what are they made out of? Are the sights fixed or adjustable? Are there any markings on the barrel?  I assume the markings you pointed out already are on the lockplate. Does the stock go all the way to the end of the barrel? How did you know it was .36 caliber?  Lets start there and go from there.

[kevin]

Crow-feather, what ever you do DO NOT put any smokless powder down  the bore of any gun rifle or pistol untill you know what you have, like Tbaus i need to see what your trying to discribe, can you e-mail me a picture, then we can figure out what you have.
                                               kevin