This antique fullstock longrifle is unmarked as to a maker. The rifle has been refinished on both the wood and metal. The maple stock has been sanded and finished to a satin sheen. The side panel has a repaired crack that is only faintly visible. A few pieces of the furniture are mounted with brass screws, which did not come into common use until the 20th century. The lock and barrel have both been refinished to a dark brown. Trigger reach is 13-1/4", which is average for many antique long guns. Weight is 8.4 pounds.
The 40-1/8" barrel is nearly 15/16" octagon. The .36 caliber bore appears to be recut. The bore is bright and is rifled with seven lands and grooves with a slow twist for a patched round ball. The rear sight is dovetailed 11" ahead of the breech. The barrel has a filled dovetail that is faintly visible 6" ahead of the breech. A small low brass blade front sight is fitted behind the muzzle. The brown finish on the barrel has a very noticeable texture when touched.
Notice the mid to late 19th century architecture of the buttstock, with brass crescent buttplate. The stock has been sanded smooth and finished to a satin sheen. The buttplate is correctly mounted with iron screws. The triggerguard with offset grip rail with fish lip design is a feature found on many mid to late 19th century muzzleloaders from the Ohio region. Viewed from above the breech plug tang is mounted with a tang bolt and wood screw.
Both the triggerguard and toeplate are mounted with brass screws, which is not common on antique rifles. Notice how the bottom flat of the buttstock extends from the toe to the trigger, and fades through the lock panels to the rounded forend. Short brass ramrod pipes with incised ringed ends secure the ramrod to the rifle. The ramrod is tapered from 9/32" to 1/4" diameter and is fitted with a jagged brass tip. We would suggest leaving this tapered ramrod and on the rifle and using a dedicated 5/16" diameter loading and cleaning rod. The side panel of the lock has what appears to be a repaired crack that extends horizontally across the panel for 3". The cheek is shaped with a large oval cheek piece with accent line.
The deep curved buttplate is easy to hold, and engages your shoulder with surprising comfort. A brass octagon sideplate is fitted to support the single lock bolt. The stock has a repaired crack along the grain from the breech to the lock bolt.
The front action percussion lock is likely a Goucher lock, but has been heavily refinished. The die stamped game bird design is only faintly visible and no name is legible. This lock has a one position tumbler, which is common to antique hardware store percussion locks. This allows them to be easily fitted to set triggers without putting a fly detent in the lock tumbler. The hammer has a small amount of play on the tumbler shank. The percussion drum is a modern replacement. A nickel silver flash cup is fitted around the stainless steel 1/4-28 threaded nipple.
The single lever double set triggers will only fire the lock from the set position. The triggers do not have the backlash adjusted and the rear trigger is slightly holding up the sear, which requires the triggers to be set before the lock can be cocked.
