William Sublette
45 Cal.
- Joined
- Jan 10, 2020
- Messages
- 673
- Reaction score
- 1,290
What part is the bolster?
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.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?
Well I may be wrong but it does not look like T.K. Dawson's work to me.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
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