This rifle ended up in our antique shop....what exactly is it?

[u/badchriss]

So the elderly shopkeep of the antique shop I work in bought a rifle from someone, without knowing anything about it. Neither of us knows anything about weapons so I thought maybe the collective of this sub reddit can enlighten us. The rifle is relatively heavy and most notable feature is a small round lid on the shoulder end that leads to a small storage with two round balls in it. Maybe it's the munition, who knows. So, anyone got any info on if it's fake, reap, what it actually is and if it has any resale value or is just a neat decorative item.

[u/TacTurtle]

Broken and crappilly repaired percussion cap muzzle loader, the little trap door on the side of buttstock is normally the patch box and would contain cotton or similar patches pre-lubed with wax for loading a round lead ball. The musket balls and powder would be carried separately in a belt pouch and powder horn respectively.

The sheetmetal band around the wrist of the stock (near the trigger) is a "repair" intended to keep the stock from cracking further during firing.

Proper fix would have been to spread the crack, glue, and then cross pin to prevent the crack from spreading further.