Does this look legit to you all?
Frankie, if I understand which rifle (
50 caliber Lancaster inspired rifle) and seller (
ettoreR) you are asking about, I can't help you much about your question of legitimacy as I don't know the seller.
The rifle does look beautiful and the gunmaker is technically skillful. But it still appears to be an amateur product.
I quote his description here for others to see what we are talking about.
I have a recently finished Lancaster style rifle that id like to ship off. The rifle is stocked in a grade 3 curly maple, weighing in at just over 7 pounds. The rifles total length is 57.5 inches, with a 14 inch length of pull and a 4 inch drop. The barrel is a 42 inch green mountain 7/8' barrel with a 50 caliber bore. The lock is a large R.E. Davis colonial style lock with some good spark to it. I am asking $2,000.00 for the rifle...
From what I can see in the pictures, it has some early Lancaster parts. He used what appears to be a John Bivins buttplate, an R E Davis colonial lock, and a trigger guard that is often associated with German Jaegers and early Moravian rifles.
His choice of sideplate is a little odd because it isn't typical to what one sees on a Lancaster rifle, but it is similar in shape to the ones on the William Antes rifles shown in
Moravian Gun Making of the American Revolution by Bob Lienemann, et. al., so it's not pure fantasy.
On the other hand, his carving is strictly contemporary in its design. Technically, the carving is well executed, but it shows little knowledge of the Rococo designs used on Colonial rifles in Lancaster and surrounding areas.
Because he used a small diameter barrel that is not swamped, the rifle doesn't have the architecture of an early Lancaster rifle and it rather looks more like a late Lancaster rifle in contrast to the early Lancaster component parts used.
All that said, the small barrel probably helps to make a light rifle that would handle well.
As long as one is not hung up on the historical inconsistencies and the aspect of the contemporary carving designs, it is a pretty rifle and may well be worth the asking price. It's probably a good example of you "get what you pay for it."
