This attractive Southern Mountain rifle is stocked in curly maple and trimmed in iron furniture with a patina finish. Often referred to as a Tennessee style, antique Tennessee flint rifles were often equipped with imported English locks, this Southern rifle is fitted with a late Ketland style flintlock. The double lever double set triggers are tuned to fire set, or unset. The Rice Barrel Company 46" swamped octagon barrel gives this longrifle a modest weight without being overly muzzle heavy. This slender rifle weighs 6.3 pounds and a has a 13-5/8" trigger reach to fit today's average size shooter.

The .45 caliber swamped barrel by Rice Barrel Company is thickest at the breech, tapers to a narrow waist, and flares slightly at the muzzle. The bore is bright, clean, and has been well maintained. The bore is cut rifled with seven lands and grooves, with square bottom rifling, and a slow twist for shooting a tightly patched round ball. After the rifling has been cut, each bore is "ball burnished". A carbide bore-sizing die is pulled through the barrel, to insure bore dimension uniformity, eliminating any tight or loose spots inside the barrel. This critical procedure leaves the top of the lands smooth and polished, equaling the traditional lead lapping procedure. Rice barrels do not require lapping or extensive shooting to break-in. Rice Muzzle Loading Rifle Barrels are set between centers and milled octagonal, insuring a centered bore, concentric with the exterior, with no "run-out". Each barrel is stress relieved in an atmosphere controlled electric furnace, to eliminate work hardening or barrel warp, and to dampen harmonic vibrations or barrel whip. The barrel is dovetailed with a full buckhorn rear sight 11" ahead of the breech. Shooters with "older" eyes or corrective lenses will generally benefit from the extra distance. A nickel silver blade front sight is dovetailed behind the muzzle. The barrel is finished to a gray-brown patina.

The curly maple stock is stained with golden undertones to best display the figure over the length of the stock. Curly maple is a very correct choice for stock wood, often found on original Tennessee rifles. The stock does have a few minor handling marks from normal use. The stock is fitted with a crescent buttplate with a modest curve to engage the shooter's shoulder. All of the iron furniture has a gray-brown patina finish. The breech plug extends down the wrist with a long lollipop tang secured with two domed head tang bolts that engage the triggerplate below. The slender iron triggerguard is shaped with rounded ends and has been pinned into position. The forearm ends with a shoulder at the ramrod entry pipe, in typical fashion for rifles of this region. The forend is very slender and shaped to follow the profile of the swamped barrel. We note a repaired chip on the right side of the stock around the pin that retains the ramrod entry pipe. There is a plugged hole just above the middle ramrod pipe pin. The muzzle end is shaped to provide easy access to the ramrod, and does not have a muzzle cap in "poor boy" style. Three 5/16" diameter ramrod pipes secure the ramrod to the rifle. The ramrod is fitted with a steel tip with 8-32 threads for loading and cleaning. A single lock bolt, in late flintlock fashion, is mounted through a washer style sideplate fitted flush with the side panel. The square cheek piece gives the shooter a comfortable place to align the sights.

The rifle is fitted with a Jim Chambers late classic Ketland lock. The lock plate is shaped in the style of popular imported English flintlocks from the 1790 to 1820 era. The tail of the lock plate is slightly lower than the raised panel that forms the lock plate, separated by an attractive molding. The raised panel is surrounded by a chamfered edge. We recommend our 3/4" knapped flints for best performance in this flintlock. The lock has the same patina finish as the barrel and the rest of the iron furniture. Fast ignition is assured by the steel vent liner, positioned well above the bottom of the pan, centered on the heat of the flash. If your flint longrifle suffers from that infamous slow whoosh-bang ignition delay, study the work of today's best gun makers, and position your vent well centered on the pan, high above the bottom, to serve as a window on the center of the flash.

The Jim Kibler assembled double lever double set trigger is correctly adjusted, to allow the lock to be cocked, or the trigger set, in any sequence. You may fire the lock with the triggers set, or unset, for target, or hunting. Adjust the screw between the two triggers, inboard to reduce set trigger release pressure, our outboard to require a stronger pressure. The set trigger can provide very light release, perhaps an ounce or two, for accurate aimed shooting during pleasant weather.

This flintlock longrifle is offered in used condition with a bright well maintained bore. This rifle will be a joy to shoot at the range and is light enough to carry all day on your next hunting adventure in the deep woods. Order it for a ten day visual inspection. You will be delighted. Else if it does not fit you, return it in unfired condition for same-day refund. Postage is your only risk, when you order any one-of-a-kind gun from Track, whether new, used, or antique.