• This community needs YOUR help today. We rely 100% on Supporting Memberships to fund our efforts. With the ever increasing fees of everything, we need help. We need more Supporting Members, today. Please invest back into this community. I will ship a few decals too in addition to all the account perks you get.



    Sign up here: https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/account/upgrades

Southern rifles

Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
May 4, 2020
Messages
969
Reaction score
951
Location
New England
Hello all. What are some generalities about rifles that may have been made/used/found in the Carolina area during the 1770s-1810s? I spent a lot of my childhood on my family's South Carolina farm so I am looking for something that my ancestors may have had. I am not interested in smoothbores down there. Just rifles. My family's farm lies right within the region where Francis Marion operated, so there is an extra element of interest there. I realize of course that there would be a wide variation in rifle trends spanning those years but I don't not even know where to begin for starters. Thanks for your knowledge!
 
The rules are Iron mounting to increased drop.
But early we are talking similar to Lancaster or Virginia style. Iron became more popular as years went by, but brass never went away. Silver is underrepresented today.
Some of the early rifles had a stock that was almost Fowling gun shape. Half round barrels are known on southren rifles
That’s a forty year span of time. 1770 look more classic Pennsylvania 1810 more classic Appalachian rife
 
First, google Vogler, Old Salem Rifles and you will find some to the finest examples of rifles built during that time...One is mounted in coin silver and I was told it was made in the 1820s for one of Marion's men...Next, get a copy of Bill Ivey's book on Rifles of North Carolina, it discusses the different schools in NC, the closest to SC is the Mecklenburg school...Also, there was a rifle, called the John Thomas rifle it is in Shumway's books that came from SC, this rifle ended up in England so it was from the Revolutionary War era...
 

Attachments

  • BADA961F-510B-41BC-B304-3C971049EA64-1024x655-1.jpeg
    BADA961F-510B-41BC-B304-3C971049EA64-1024x655-1.jpeg
    232.8 KB · Views: 0
  • 77D4F3C1-58D1-489C-9271-6BCEAE770B20-1024x286.jpeg
    77D4F3C1-58D1-489C-9271-6BCEAE770B20-1024x286.jpeg
    90.1 KB · Views: 0
  • 7A896A4C-6E2F-4D70-8B90-30A24D3D53D6_4_5005_c.jpeg
    7A896A4C-6E2F-4D70-8B90-30A24D3D53D6_4_5005_c.jpeg
    26.1 KB · Views: 0
I just remembered another builder nearby...The Bear Creek school in Robbins, NC...There is an area they call Mechanics Hill and the most well know builder was David Kennedy, google him as well as he also made some nice rifles during that period...
 

Attachments

  • ps_kennedy2_6-17.jpg
    ps_kennedy2_6-17.jpg
    695.5 KB · Views: 0
First, google Vogler, Old Salem Rifles and you will find some to the finest examples of rifles built during that time...One is mounted in coin silver and I was told it was made in the 1820s for one of Marion's men...Next, get a copy of Bill Ivey's book on Rifles of North Carolina, it discusses the different schools in NC, the closest to SC is the Mecklenburg school...Also, there was a rifle, called the John Thomas rifle it is in Shumway's books that came from SC, this rifle ended up in England so it was from the Revolutionary War era...
Awesome! Thank you. Looking at those specimens is really helpful. And thank you Tenngun! That is good to know. The increased drop is something that is really attractive to me.
 
@Magungo1066 ,

We had a very extensive, picture-heavy discussion of this very topic two years ago. Check out this thread: Southern Rifle - South Carolina

Bear in mind, not all southern-built rifles were southern mountain rifles. There were documented builders in Greenville, Spartanburg, and Charleston. As @Comfortably_Numb suggested, brass mounts were pretty common. In addition, South Carolina rifles evolved over time, as they did everywhere else, so a 1780's rifle from the Palmetto State might be very different from an 1840's rifle.

Some may suggest that you get a Kibler Southern Mountain Rifle kit and call it good. This will undeniably produce a very nice rifle, but it won't be a South Carolina style. People have taken an interest in southern rifles over the past few years, and we now know there were some distinctive regional features and styles, as well and known and documented builders. Look for rifles by Thomas Peden, Patrick Hoy, and William Reid, for starters.

Good luck in your quest! There is a lot of information out there, if you are willing to search for it.

Notchy Bob
 
Back
Top