My Father's Pride & Joy What Can You Tell Me?

[Stumbling Buffalo]

Hi, I'm new to the forum and dazzled by all the knowledge here. Hoping to hear what the experts think about this piece. My Dad didn't hunt or shoot much after service in the Pacific in WW@, but was interested in western history and black powder guns. He traded for this when I was 9 or 10 when we lived in Houston. It was the crown jewel in his very small collection. He built a mantle on the living room wall to hang it over even though we had no fireplace.
Walnut stock. Looks like it was converted to percussion or had the lock and surrounding wood replaced. The barrel is 34-1/2" long and appears to be re-breeched. Caliber seems to be .40 - .45. Barrel measures 15/16" with no taper. I the 5 pointed star may be German silver. I don't recall ever seeing an older rifle with one. Is it a fairly rare decoration? I would really like to hear your thoughts on the style an possible area of origin. Thanks for looking, GT

 

[Thagomizer]

Almost certainly original percussion. The wood around the lock appears to be curly maple and looks to be an older repair.
Pretty basic halfstock from 1840-1870 time period. Can't help with the star but it might be coin silver.
Also welcome to the forum. Others will chime in with their knowledge.

 

[Stumbling Buffalo]

Thanks for the info, Thagomizer. The more I look at, the erosion from percussion caps appears consistent across the lock plate and the breech of the barrel. Would this rifle be typical of what is called an Ohio style?

 

[Notchy Bob]

Welcome to the forum!

That's a nice, mid-to-late 19th century, original percussion rifle, in my opinion.

There is a tendency nowadays to call every small to medium bore, halfstock percussion rifle an "Ohio style," but the fact is, by mid century, these rifles were being made all over the country. That five-pointed star says "Texas," to me especially since the rifle was collected in Houston. If not made in Texas, then possibly made for the Texas trade in one of the eastern gun making centers like Philadelphia.

The man you want to talk with is Chris Hirsch, a gunsmith, author, and collector (and banjo player...) in Sugarland. He wrote the book about Texas guns before 1900. Google "Chris Hirsch Texas gun trade" to find his website and contact information.

Good luck! Please let us know what you find!

Notchy Bob

 

[Stumbling Buffalo]

Gracias, Bob! I will do that.

 

[NorthFork]

My two cents are this-

No cheek piece? I think that is rare or at least somewhat rare. Nearly all original arms that are not military smoothbores have something of a cheekpiece.

 

[Stumbling Buffalo]

There is no cheekpiece. Agreed, from pics I've seen cheek pieces seem to be more the norm. But I'm new to studying pre civil war. Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[user 48679]

IMHO, that rifle has "character" - I like it !

 

[Loyalist Dave]

There is no cheekpiece. Agreed, from pics I've seen cheek pieces seem to be more the norm. But I'm new to studying pre civil war. Thanks for your thoughts.

That might be post ACW too. Folks think that as soon as cartridge rifles became mass produced, everybody switched over to either a lever-action or a trap-door. A lot of inexpensive, accurate, reliable, and most importantly inexpensive to shoot caplock rifles were made after the ACW. This would account for the lack of the cheek piece. The rear of the stock has a Winchester-ish shape to it.

OH and YES... it's pretty cool!

LD

 

[Rifleman1776]

The rear of the stock has a Winchester-ish shape to it.

Sharp eye there, LD. Have to agree. Yes, many front stuffers were made post CW. Rumor has it some are still being made these days.