Chris, My thinking is its a homemade rifle from the early 1900's i have never seen any real early percussion or flint rifles with a coil spring in the action,thats just my W.A.G. !! Don
Thanks Don The coil spring had me scratching my head as well. A little research says the coil spring first appeared in the 15th century and my thoughts on the rifle is it dates to the middle 1800's so it could be original to the rifle. The rifle came from an area that has great history and really could be anything from anywhere. Another piece of the puzzle is the rifling, it almost looks flat sided with seven sides I will have to dig up some info on that. Thanks Chris
What you have done is not nearly as important as how you have done it!!! The Old Fart 2008 A.D.
I'll take a WAG that even though it displays some ingenious features but is not of high quality construction, that it is some sort of trade gun manufactured in the early-mid 20th century for distribution in 3rd world countries. Another guess would be it was a basement project built by a guy with an imagination and the skills/tools to pull it off.
"You can lead a man to logic, but you cannot make him think." Joe Harz "Always certain, often right." Keith McCafferty
have you tried asking in teh ML section of the forum????? Seems like the best place and there are some guys over there with an awful lot of knowledge of all things ML.
Here are some more picts. Nothing about the rifle says 20th century to me (the feel and smell)What do you guys make of the poured forend tip? or the crazy old patch box? Drew I started on the ML forum knowledge is a good thing! Even of smoke poles. Thanks Chris
What you have done is not nearly as important as how you have done it!!! The Old Fart 2008 A.D.
Chris, definitely one of the oddest pieces I've ever seen!!! But that also makes it quite cool!! I am now leaning heavily toward Gnoahhhs line of thought on this one. And could not possibly state it any better than he did. What is the bore on that thing? Looks from the photos, .32 or less?? Another classic case of, "wish it could talk'
"I hunt not to kill, but rather to have not played golf.." -Orlando "Squawfish" de Gasket Chainsaw Artist/Philosopher
Not sure on the bore guessing 42? Very cool indeed, the stock and bbl look to be some of the original and the lock is something RWH came up with, now what rifle did this start out as? I don't think it would take much to get her up and running again.
What you have done is not nearly as important as how you have done it!!! The Old Fart 2008 A.D.
I have seen the mules ear lock on some other rifles. Naturally, right now I can't think of where or any names. What kind of wood is it? It doesn't look like "good" stuff in the pics I opened.
The more I see of it, the more I believe it to be the product of a skilled artisan who put some original ideas into form. Fantastical as some of the features may be, it's not badly made. I'm also leaning toward mid-late 19th century now too, but those coil springs have me wondering if maybe 20th century would be more accurate. I would categorize it as folk art, and would treasure it as such. You were lucky to find it, IMO.
Pouring a pewter nose cap is not difficult. I've done it twice. Once for myself and once for a friend who didn't have the courage to do it himself. My current ML "go to" rifle, The Vincent Ohio-style half stock percussion, is the one I did for myself. It isn't particularly difficult, but this isn't the place for a detailed tutorial. I'm sort of thinking of doing a small poured pewter forend cap on the 1899 project rifle that is languishing in the shop.
Last edited by gnoahhh; 07/24/11.
"You can lead a man to logic, but you cannot make him think." Joe Harz "Always certain, often right." Keith McCafferty
I am now leaning heavily toward Gnoahhhs line of thought on this one. And could not possibly state it any better than he did. What is the bore on that thing? Looks from the photos, .32 or less?? Another classic case of, "wish it could talk'