Well, I finally did it; I've dismantled the gun. No real surprises, I should imagine; the "ramrod" turns out to be a piece of painted dowel, inserted to keep the fore stock together, and the lock came away easily enough and seems, happily, to be in working order; at least, it certainly does a damned good impression of it! Having determined it was at the half-cock, I decided to cock it fully and fire, thereby releasing the tension on the mainspring. With the aid of a little WD40, it worked like a charm. My compliments to the maker!
The biggest surprise, however, is that the barrel steel
does show a pattern! It might be damascus, I suppose, but then again it could just as well be faked damascus patterning. I'm trying to get a good photograph but this damned camera is still defeating my efforts; however, some select pictures can be seen below.
Barrel:
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/8917/img0323tx.jpg
http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/5083/img0317yt.jpg
http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/8163/img0325.jpg
http://img691.imageshack.us/img691/6926/img0324ky.jpg
http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/4329/img0323l.jpg
http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/8257/img0326i.jpg
Lock:
http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/5840/img0322db.jpg