J D Long Rifles

[Tuck]

Hi. I'm looking for information about J D Long Rifles. A flinter is up for sale locally but I can't find any info on it. Have you guys ever heard of them? If so, price range? TIA

 

[Captjoel]

Are you talking about original PA longrifles that were signed JD?

 

[Tuck]

No, it's not vintage. It has a Douglas barrel & is stamped as in the pic. One sold on guns int'l but I can't see the sale price. I'm curious if anyone knows anything about it & if it's worth buying.

 

[GANGGREEN]

I looked at the photos of the one on Guns International that sold and wasn't completely impressed by the quality of the build. I'm not an expert and don't really follow the modern builders, but his name doesn't ring a bell to me, so I personally wouldn't be interested in paying any sort of premium for the gun at auction. And, for what it's worth, I'm a hack myself, so I'm not suggesting that my work is necessarily any better and maybe the photos were misleading and the gun was nicer than it appeared.

I guess start with the knowledge that with a fairly plain stock and decent components (lock, barrel, triggers, etc.) that you'd have $700 or so in the parts (although you're going to be hard pressed to pick up many Douglas barrels to build a rifle with today although I'm not sure they're worth a premium either). If it's precisely what you need and want and if it blows you away, then pay a bit more than that. If it's nothing special and it's not anything that you're in great need of, try to pick it up only if it's a real bargain (less than the cost of parts). That's just how I would look at it personally, but maybe someone knows the builder better and has some better advice.

 

[GANGGREEN]

And for what it's worth, you do occasionally see bargains out there, particularly at smaller auctions, rural gun shows, private sales, hock shops, etc.. Not everyone values the same things that the forum members here do. I bought a very nice, older (1970s or 1980s) custom gun built by a decent builder recently for $400. It was clean as a whistle and I couldn't be happier with it. Looks nice enough, albeit rather plain and it shoots well.

 

[Tuck]

This one is definitely more shooter than looker though I haven't seen it in person. I'm new to black powder. I bought a nice Lehigh style flintlock but I'd like to have more of a shooter instead of always shooting the nice one. This rifle is less than $500 so I wanted to see if the experts could weigh in on it.

BTW, I got into BP completely by accident but I'm hooked on it!

 

[GANGGREEN]

Assuming that it's competently put together, I would think it would be hard to lose at that price.

 

[hawkeye2]

Grab it if the bore is any good and the lock works. You'd pay almost that for a used Thompson Center and even if it's an average assembly job it's still a custom gun and (my opinion) preferable to a factory piece.

 

[Grenadier1758]

I agree with @hawkeye2 and @GANGGREEN. That price is less than the cost of the parts.

You have more information on the JD rifle than I have on several of my rifles.

 

[Tuck]

The rest of the story is I'll have to buy it sight unseen. I won't be home until summer.