The long rifle

[Lead pot]

I like to start sort of a show and tell on the flint lock rifle.
When it comes to the long rifles I like them to look like they where made outback in the shed. I don't particularly like the brass and a bunch of inlays. They are a work of art and a beauty to look at but they are not my stile. I like the working mans rifle that puts meat on the table.
I like the Southern Mountain rifles like the trade guns with iron furniture hand forged.
Here is one of my rifles.










hammer forged trigger guard put together with copper rivets



tin can patch box






Nothing fancy but I love this rifle and it shoots.........Kurt

[wch]

That, in itself, is a work of art representing a genre of History, and a d-----d accurate one, too.
Congratulations!

[Lead pot]

Thank you.

Kurt

[Mr Peabody]

Teflon patch?

[NyFirefighter357]

Very nice!

[Lead pot]

Teflon patch?

Yup sounds a little strange A friend I shoot with got some and gave it to me to try. Don't know where from but I think the patch is made of cotton twill and it has a dry coating of Teflon on it and it came with a bottle of liquid. All I know about it.
I normally use my thinned down Buffalo or deer tallow I make or straight Vaseline, but it seems to work ok.

[longbow]

Yup! I am with you in your thinking Lead pot!

I have no idea why as with my lineage and geographic location I should be lusting after Brown Bess's or other large bore muskets but my favourite muzzleloading guns are the "poor boy" style Southern mountain rifles with no brass. I like the minimalism and iron fittings to.

I have never really figured out the attraction they have for me but they certainly do and yours is a beauty! I wish I had one like it. One day maybe.

Longbow

[koger]

I am building a Southern Mtn rifle, using originals built in my county here in KY as references. Only variation is mine is .54, not the smaller calibers. I am using some thick cut slabs of deer antler, off a shed, to make the toe and tip of the butt stock, just wood between them like a poor boy, a friend has an original made this way, by local black smith in early 1900's! I love thick brown finish, slow rusted, it will last forever if done right. I am thinking on cutting my 42" barrel back to 38, a 15/16th's barrel that long can get unwieldy. I like your style man!

[gnoahhh]

I like them all, plain and fancy. My only criteria is fit and finish and grace of line and this one pretty much captures it. Well done!!!

Fancy decoration certainly doesn't make a long rifle (or any gun for that matter) shoot any better, but it does provide an outlet for the artisan to display his skill.

Our family has two original Pennsylvania rifles, passed along for generations: A J.P. Beck and a N. Beyer (master and student) and they are prime examples of what I think was the general attitude of smiths of that era- form following function for a workaday rifle. Beck and Beyer built some of the most beautiful rifles ever, but that wasn't the level of work they did on every gun they made, to include these. To pass through the training system (apprentice, journeyman, master) one had to prove the skills necessary to do fine work, and many of their surviving examples display that. But, as stated, their "plain" rifles were their bread and butter and were every bit as functional as the pretty ones- that doesn't mean they took shortcuts with inletting and finishing, rather they simply didn't dress them up. All to often we moderns see time worn examples of ancient's work and assume they took shortcuts. That wasn't the case.

I think this gentleman captured that attitude here.

[rfd]

kurt, that's a classic beauty, congrats. love the coned muzzle, too. please tell us more about it.

jackie's working on a plain jane southern trade smoothie for me, po' boy style, iron furniture, OTR wedding band barrel in .62 caliber. due in next week, can't wait.

[Oyeboten]

I sure like that Rifle!!

Say, just out of curiosity, what Calibre is it? And, have you Chronographed any shots?

[fast ronnie]

There may not be any brass, but that is some real nice wood.

[smoked turkey]

Lead pot that is one very fine flinter. Looks beautiful to me. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder they say. Your rifle has a certain "presence" about it that says "quality". I have a nice TC .54 flinter but I won't show a picture, not because I am not proud of it, or because it is not a good rifle, but because the thread you have started and the rifle you have shown has set the bar pretty high in my opinion.

[Travelor]

Beautiful rifle! I have 3 "poor boy" rifles, 32., 45, and a flinter in .58. None are a beautiful as yours.

When I built them, I used horse shoe nails to reinforce the heel of the rifle and a steel plate on the toe. No brass at all. "back in the day" I was going through a case of black a year in competitions. Nothing beats the sound and smell of black powder rifles in the early morning relays at a wooded range were the smoke lays low. If you top that off with Amazing Grace playing in the back ground for the call to the line it will raise the hair on your head. Wonderful!!!

Love the poor boy rifles.

[sharps4590]

Exquisite....what more can be said?

[smokinfeathers]

kurt, that's a classic beauty, congrats. love the coned muzzle, too. please tell us more about it.

jackie's working on a plain jane southern trade smoothie for me, po' boy style, iron furniture, OTR wedding band barrel in .62 caliber. due in next week, can't wait.

I got a 62 trade gun on the way from jackie as well should be here sat cant wait to get it n hand n make some smoke!!

[Lead pot]

kurt, that's a classic beauty, congrats. love the coned muzzle, too. please tell us more about it.

jackie's working on a plain jane southern trade smoothie for me, po' boy style, iron furniture, OTR wedding band barrel in .62 caliber. due in next week, can't wait.

rfd.

This rifle was build by Steve Losey.

It has a 44" 54cal Rice barrel with a chambers ketland lock. The barrel looks like it has a Naval Gel aged finish, not sure about this but it sure looks like what I used to use to get that worn look from use on my Hawken's I used to build.
What caught my eyes when I was looking for a Southern Mountain rifle like they made for the fur trades was the late Ketland lock with the spur filed off and some personal file and chisel cuts on the plate as well as the way the forged iron furniture and the way it was put together with copper rivets and wood has a aged look.

A .62 smoothie I would like also. I once looked at one that had a 48" barrel and I though that sure would work for me

I don't think there is anything better then to have a flint laying across your lap sitting under a oak or hickory tree waiting for that bushy tail show his head around the limb.

Kurt

[fiberoptik]

Very nice!

+1!!!


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[Ithaca Gunner]

Plain or fancy-long, or not so-Pennsylvania, Virginia, or Tennessee-big bore, or something smaller-it doesn't matter so much in the long run. What I really love about mine is the fit and comfort. Seems all I gotta do is shoulder it and point it.

My Christian Springs early style Pennsylvania Rifle popular with gunsmiths from about 1750-1770. It didn't need to be as fancy as it is to suit me, but it was what was in my price range when I was shopping for one. All I'd like to add is a coned muzzle.

[longbow]

There's another beauty!