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What school, area, or time period does this rifle represent?

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I would like opinions on what time period, area, or school of building does this rifle represent? It has a .50 caliber Green Mountain straight barrel 36" long and is iron mounted. How common was a 36" barrel length in flintlocks? Was there a particular school, area, or time period when this length was more common? Thank you for all comments and opinions
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All I can give is some generalities and wild guesses.
The butt looks like it is from the Lancaster PA or possibly the South Carolina areas. The time period would be somewhere in the 1790-1825 area because of the width of the butt plate.
A straight octagon barrel would be very unusual because most of the barrels in the flintlock era were swamped. That said, some of the swamped barrels had very little change in shape making them almost look like they were straight. The 36" barrel length would be very unusual for this period of time. Most of the longrifles barrels were 40 inches or longer.
The use of iron or steel for furniture is also rare as most of the longrifles used brass furniture.

You have a very nice longrifle there so no matter what school or time period it is supposed to represent, you can be proud to own it.
 
Thanks Zonie,
The rifle looks great from 5 feet but on closer examination it needs to be stripped and much stock reshaping to be done in the lock area and from the lock forward. It is a bit "blocky" and could really improve by thinning down some of the extra wood. It seems like it may be a mix of styles. The butt plate is just over 1-7/8" wide. The Siler lock works good after polishing and tuning. The stock is a nice piece of curly maple but I wish the barrel was longer. The federal eagle on the cheek piece might get replaced with a bone oval and scrimshaw.
Thanks for you observations!
 
That’s the way I got it. I may lengthen the barrel with a Rice round groove at 39” then add a nosecap to add 2” to the stock. Would a 1” space between the barrel end and the nosecap be out of the realm of possibility?
 
At first glance I thought "Lancaster" and the first third of the 19th century. I'll stick with that. It's a very nice looking rifle but is also ripe for customizing. My favorite deer rifle is a later Lancaster in .45 with a straight 36" barrel which was exactly what I ordered built. Mine is nickel-silver mounted.
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i guess many here thing in schools. ive never ever done that. i quit doing that when i went to museum for old guns in dead wood s.dak before it become a gambling town. their were about 300 percussion side locks their from their gold rush days. some flintlocks also. not one was from a school. all were in pretty good shape with some just like new. rifled barrels but many were smooth bores. aftter i looked at all of them i gave up that school idea. i couuld see that many were made from parts from guns that were partly worn out as salvaged for the good parts. some barrels were 26 inched long some were 42 inches long. after that experience i built side locks that fit the persons build, no school. made them plane but beautiful. shot to point of aim and every one i sold them to was very very happy. i like the lancaster style. now that im getting quite old i may only build once in a while. but their will be no school. i make tempalates to fit the person i build for so when it goes to the shoulder the eye looks down the barrel and the sights line up right now fast. the pull is just right and then the customer will be very happy. schools are nice but thats not for me. hope i did not offend anyone, as that is not my intention here of this reply. i just built guns that fit and are simple. the wood on my guns were the best of the best. that made up for fancy.
 
Thank you Cattman! I really think your approach makes sense. I'm over with the thought of trying to make this rifle fit wholly into any one surviving style. I had a opinion from Brad Emig at Cabin Creek that the rifle builders of the 18th & 19th centuries did all kinds of things, not necessarily in the main style or school, but ultimately what the customer wanted. I like the gun and will remove some wood to make it appear less blocky and refinish it and then shoot and enjoy. I did design and build a puzzle patch box release system that works great.
Thanks again!
 
The patch box and 4 pipes remind me of the J. Henry Lancaster rifle plans in the Trade Rifle Sketch Book by Charles Hansen III. The difference is the barrel is shorter and it lacks a nose cap, otherwise there is a lot of similarity. The J. Henry in those plans has 4 pipes.
 
Schools are usually for identifying the areas of the old builders. Today's rifles and even the original guns had architecture all over the place. A builder would train some apprentices who took his style with variations and that formed an area style. As the apprentices turned into journeymen and moved down the road somewhere, they did their own thing. There were no hard borders of building schools.
 
Over all the gun looks a bit heavy structured, like those made in the era before 1775. Not the fine graceful thin lines of the golden age. Kind of the type made in eastern PA before the Rev War, sort of Jaeger like. Obviously there are things that do not fit in such an era and it appears to be a combination. It is a fine looking gun regardless. The heaviness does remind me a bit of a Peter Angstadt rifle in the Kindig Collection, but the butt stock does not have the Roman nose and deep crescent butt plate.
 
what's not to like! I tell you I am a fan of shorter barrels. I have a southern rifle built by Kevin Blevins of NC it is beautiful and patterned off of an original 1790s Gillespie rifle with a 43in barrel. but I wish the barrel were shorter. when I pick up and handle my jaeger 31in swamped barreled gun it sure feels better. I am 6,1 in height, I want a beautiful Jim kibler southern rifle but with the almost 4ft barrel on them stops me every time,,,,,,,,,,,,
 
if your going to build a rifle for your self consider this. buy a nice piece of wood that you like. make a stock that fits you perfectly out of hard cardboard . keep cutting and bending it so that when it comes to you shoulder the pull is perfect and your aiming i falls right down the length of the what will be the barrel. then secure it in that position with tons of duck tape. then trace it on to your nice of wood and cut it out on the band saw. then send it to some to route out the barrel. you can carefully do the lock tanf and trigger your self with a good set of chisels and do it slow and perfect. when you finish this gun you will love as it will fit only you and no one else. it will be fast to the shoulder and be on target in a instant. you will hardly have to aim as it is already their for you. build a gun for your self and you will love it. if you build for someone else do also the same thing. they will love the gun as it fits them like a glove. every one should have one long rifle that fits them like a glove and no one else.
 
I would like opinions on what time period, area, or school of building does this rifle represent? It has a .50 caliber Green Mountain straight barrel 36" long and is iron mounted. How common was a 36" barrel length in flintlocks? Was there a particular school, area, or time period when this length was more common? Thank you for all comments and opinions
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It strikes me as odd that such a short barrel has four ramrod thimbles. Most rifle guns have only three on a 40+ inch barrel. Some cheaper rifles even omit the entry thimble.
This looks to me as a Lancaster style.
 
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