Please help identify this over/under

[sixbull]

I would like help in identifying my great, great, great, grandfather's over/under combination rifle/shotgun.

A short bio:

David C Cowan was born in 1805 in Lee County Virgina near Cowan's fort. His father was a Scottish immigrant. In 1820 he went to Lincoln County, Tennessee, then around 1837 to 1840 he went to the Republic of Texas. He lived around Tow, Republic of Texas, he was a land surveyor, surveying land in and around Llano County, Republic of Texas. This area was known as being the frontier, inhabited by Indians. He was a private in the Texas Mounted Rangers and Confederate States Army.

I haven't seen this rifle, the reason for asking forum members help in the identification of this rifle. I do have plans to travel to Llano to handle and look for markings and to take better photos. The photos don't show any markings of who made this rifle.

I have an article from the Corsicana Daily Sun by Gelene Simpson, so I will quote just a part of that article.

"July 28, 2008: One of the adventures of the Texas Rangers is the incident which drew my attention because of my interests in parts west. It seems that during a raid by Comanche Indians on Llano and Burnet counties in the 1850's, a young white girl was captured along with several horses. Ranger David C Cowan took rangers from Llano and Burnet and gave chase, but to no avail. They had to give up the chase because the trail was "cold." So they rested at the fort Smith site before returning to Llano County."

With a family history like that, it's no wonder why I have a high interest in muzzle loaders.

Thanks in advance.....

sixbull (aka Jim)

 

[j.smith]

Interesting, looks like its in v.g. shape, nice history dont let that one go. Sorry I dont know anything about it, would like to know myself. :hmm: Good luck.

 

[David W.]

Send it to me so I can inspect it more closely! :haha:

I honestly do can not help you, but those old mule ear rifles were slick.

Please, do not attempt to remove the patina that some people believe will make it prettier. That will make it lose its value. You can clean the inside of the bore, and I suggest doing it. Ballistol works great for that purpose as well as Remington Bore Clean (whatever the name of that stuff is).

 

[Zonie]

I can't give any information about the gun except to mention that the back action locks were fairly popular in the 1850-1860's.

The over-under barrel combination reminds me of Wyatt Earp's first gun.

In the book "Wyatt Earp Frontier Marshal" by Stuart N. Lake, 1931, The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass. the author writes of many interviews he had with Wyatt before he passed on.

On page 11 Wyatt, speaking of his first gun is quoted as saying,
"'It was a cumbersome weapon,' Wyatt recollected, 'but I thought more of it than any other I owned in later years. It was an "under-and-over," a combination rifle and shotgun with one barrel underneath the other. On top was the rifle, about forty-caliber; underneath, the scatter-gun, both muzzle-loaders. The range of the rifle was not much greater than that of the shotgun; one hundred yards was certainly its limit for accurate work. But I was proud of that gun, and with it I was to keep a group of twenty persons in fresh meat all the way to California."

Unfortunately no further mention was made describing the gun.

 

[sixbull]

I received some information on who made this O/U rifle/shotgun. The name on the barrel is J. A. Ellis, Canadaigua, N.Y.

The information I recieved from an individual I contacted is, Dan Lefever and J. A. Ellis formed a partnership 1862 to 1867. They made a number of O/U percussion, mule ear rifle/shotguns. The O/U rifle I'm seeking the information on, was probably made before J. A. Ellis partnership with Dan Lefever. The individual that gave me the information, has a O/U rifle, 16 ga x 40 caliber, marked Lefever and Ellis. He went on to tell me that it would be the same rifle, I'm looking to copy, other than the barrel marking.

Getting closer to having a copy made. :thumbsup:

sixbull