Kentucky Long Gun??

[MrSmitty]

Yuuup I agree go to Falls City firearms! Rick is the man!

 

[Cerberus]

Mid to 3rd quarter flint lock plates tended to be long and 'banana' shaped, and often retained with 3 plate bolts, then they started to straighten out a bit around about the time of our Revolution, they did almost universally retain a pointed shape on the rear end of the plate. Germanic styles were usually slim and faceted while English styles were more rounded, French styles were kind of an in between look, and by this time 2 plate bolts were the most common. Between the end of our Revolution and throughout the golden years the lock constiuously were refined and they slowly started to shrink in size, and in this country the English style became the most prominent by the 1810s. This is when the Decadent age of long rifles started. The era of grossly shaped stocks and extremely gaudily ornamented rifles. It was in the era that the lock started to become more rounded on the end, oftentimes terminating with a small 'nipple' shape finial, Think the Durrs Egg and Mid Ketland styles here. Then came the percussion era, when rifles started going to strictly utilitarian in looks. Little to no carving, engraving or inlay work, a rounded rear to the lock plate, single lock bolt, universal use of the painful looking crescent butt plate.

 

[WyldeShot]

I am also going to recommend you go sign up and post this over on American Longrifles forum American Longrifles - Home - a site dedicated to the study and building of the American longrifle . There are some true longrifle geniuses over there, far moreso that any other muzzleloading forum I've ever found.

I will check out the site. Thanks!

 

[WyldeShot]

Well I can say that looking at your pictures the architecture is not from the 1700s, at earliest I would date it around 1840-1850s, and appears to originally have been percussion. Something of that nature is definitely easier to determine from a physical examination, and it most assuredly was made by a gun maker of some sort. Are there any markings anywhere, like on the top flat of the barrel or on the lockplate?

There are no markings what so ever on the firearm.

 

[NKBJ]

How well a corroded barrel can shoot once cleaned up surprises a lot of folks.
I'd be so tempted to get a radiographer to shoot the breech area, scrub it out, get a replacement nipple and put a deer in the freezer.
Yeehah.

 

[datIANguy]

My dad's cousin makes these. Period accurate reproductions, all done by hand. He might be able to help you out a little with it.

Home

 

[indiucky]

Mid to 3rd quarter flint lock plates tended to be long and 'banana' shaped, and often retained with 3 plate bolts, then they started to straighten out a bit around about the time of our Revolution, they did almost universally retain a pointed shape on the rear end of the plate. Germanic styles were usually slim and faceted while English styles were more rounded, French styles were kind of an in between look, and by this time 2 plate bolts were the most common. Between the end of our Revolution and throughout the golden years the lock constiuously were refined and they slowly started to shrink in size, and in the country the English style became the most prominent by the 1810s. This is when the Decadent age of long rifles started. The era of grossly shaped stocks and extremely gaudily ornamented rifles. It was in the era that the lock started to become more rounded on the end, oftentimes terminating with a small 'nipple' shape finial, Think the Durrs Egg and Late Ketland styles here. Then came the percussion era, when rifles started going to strictly utilitarian in looks. Little to no carving, engraving or inlay work, a rounded rear to the lock plate, single lock bolt, universal use of the painful looking crescent butt plate.

This gent has been dead on in his assessment so I can't really add anything....It has the look of an "Ohio Valley" mid 19th century rifle....The use of one lock plate screw and the "hump" on the stock makes me think it was made locally rather than in PA or some point further south...I have an original Pennsylvania Rifle here in the shop in original flintlock (English Ketland lock)....This lock however, looks like it may be an American made lock which makes me think mid 19th century....Maybe 1840???? It is kind of neat that they used a full length stock instead of a half stock...Maybe the guy who had it built was a traditionalist????

I also have an 1840 Springfield here that started out as a flintlock (lock plate extends way pass the nipple...) and was converted at the arsenal to percussion probably after the Mexican War...(The first one, not our current one...) The Mississippi men under Jefferson Davis, along with some Texans that had some percussion guns, were the only folks using percussion during the Mexican War...The regular army were all issued flintlocks and the Mexican forces had Brown Bess muskets....Third model I think.....

 

[Cerberus]

Rick, come to think of it, it does have an Ohio flavor to it. There were at least 2 gun makers in Louisville during the time frame that rifle matches. I recall seeing a rifle marked Thomas over Louisville, Ky in a museum in Oklahoma a few years ago, but it was a half stock. While half stocks were starting to become the fashion, full stocked rifles continued to be made by many and commonly offered on the trade market (made for sale in stores). Mass produced rifles were starting to become the norm by the percussion era, but there was still a thriving cottage trade that continued well until after our Civil War, some even claim into the 20th Century in parts of Appalachia.


I bet that converted Springfield is awesome. It prolly wouldn't be to far off the truth to state that most of the old US martial muskets that were made as flint got some form of conversion at some point, a couple of rapidly expanding Armies tend to snatch up anything that can be made to work.