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WM. Large ........56 cal?

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Bolster is the chunk of metal at the top inside of the lock plate. It's purpose is to anchor the short end of the main spring , support the breech plug nipple bolster or drum and nipple , which ever is used.
 
You have a prize piece there - rarely see rifles with Bill Large barrels on the market. In the late 70’s a good friend of mine had a “chunk” gun with a Large barrel and it was extremely accurate in the over-the-log shoots we used to attend. I think it was a 1-1/8” barrel and .50 caliber - I know it was pretty heavy. Always hoped to buy it from him one day, but he ended up moving to California and he passed away a couple years ago and I have no idea where the rifle ended up.
 
Found a pretty cool plains rifle today.

Thought it was .58


Says wm large on the barrel.


No makers marks, or other info.



I'm a long ways from home and any calipers.


A friend's brass caliber guage indicates about .56


Ever heard of such a thing?
bill large made some unusual calibers and he would mark on the barrel how it shot at 25 yards. I have a bill large barrel that is a 47 caliber. he stamped on the barrel 50- .667 . that means he shot a 50 and the spread was .667. friendship has a bill large shoot that measures the spread of you shots. i turned the barrel into a Arkansas under hammer. i will be making a mold for it. When Bill Large sold his business , he sold it to Gary White of Roosevelt ,Utah. the name of the new business became known as Green river rifle works. Bill stayed with a 7 lands and grooves in his barrels.
 
I have a flintlock squirrel rifle with a Wm. Large barrel in .30 caliber. It has a 1:56 twist, seven lands, grooves about .010". It's very accurate.

Spence
 
You can also use a standard drill bit to get the bore size. Use the back end that would normally be chucked in the drill, not the cutting end. Find the bit that fits closest slide it in the bore, and it'll tell the caliber. Actually learned that from Bob Roller trying to determine the bore on a Bill Large barreled hawken that I picked up several years ago.
 
The William Large barrel is easy to identify because of the name stamped on it. I don't think I've ever seen a lock quite like that one, with that high, convex top line. That makes me think it might be a custom job, maybe by Bob Roller. If it is a Roller lock, chances are pretty good that Mr. Roller made the triggers, too. I know his locks and triggers were frequently teamed up with Large barrels. If it is a Roller lock, it should be marked as such on the inside of the lock plate.

As for the overall craftsmanship, I can't say. I do believe that rifle was very well built. The moulding or panel around the lock plate is rather generous, especially ahead of the lock, but it is very crisp and well-defined. I don't much care for the socket-head clean out screw in the snail, but maybe it's a replacement. T.K. Dawson was building nice Hawkens in the sixties. I can't say your rifle is one of his, but it is a nice rifle.

Do you know the identities of the locksmith and the stocker?

Notchy Bob
Well I may be wrong but it does not look like T.K. Dawson's work to me.
 
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