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This unique rifle is featured in George Shumway’s, “Rifles of Colonial America” – Volume II, as rifle number 115; his description is as follows:
“This walnut-stocked gun gives few if any sound clues to its place of origin. The smoothbore barrel is round on the exterior, musket fashion, and at some time in its history has had a neat little rear sight put into the sighting trough on top of the barrel tang. The piece could easily date to the Revolutionary period, but whether it is of Pennsylvania origin, Southern origin, or of some other origin, is not clear from the details it exhibits. The English style flintlock is in its original unaltered condition and appears original to the gun.
The stock is very sturdily made, with a heavy wrist and a large butt, and there are no relief moldings, incised moldings, nor carved decoration on it. But there are some decorations in metal form. The trigger-guard bow and front finial each hold an engraved diamond design filled with cross-hatching. A similar feature is present on the side-plate. At either end of the side-plate there is a numeral “6” stamped, or possibly cast, into the metal. An engraved brass inlay is present along the edge of the cheek-piece, and this extends forward to form a tulip-like flower. The large brass patchbox is curiously shaped, and it holds some simple engraving. At the rear end of the rear ramrod pipe there is an unusual transverse banding.”
There is truly not much to add to George’s description of this piece, but I have to admit that I had never been impressed with this rifle from only studying the pictures representing it his book. But… this piece is a good example of how some of our impressions of these rifles studied only from the pages of a book, are often so drastically different once the opportunity presents itself to handle and intimately study the piece. This rifle is truly a pleasure to hold, and it just feels great in the hand. It is warm and presents a feeling of nostalgia, bringing up visions of Indian campfires or battles against the British. It is no-where near as crude as the impression I had of it from the pictures alone, and after perusal I get the feeling that it is extremely early - at least near the beginning of the Revolutionary period and possibly into the 1760’s. This is a firearm that has obviously been made for protection and to use in fighting for a cause, not only to feed oneself, so I feel that this is indeed a relic used in the fight for “our”, this grand United States, independence and the struggle for “Liberty and Freedom” !
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