This James River influenced Virginia longrifle shows a blend of English and Germanic influences. The large wide buttplate is typical of those found on many English fowlers, while the cheek piece is of Germanic influence. The large round faced lock is typical of many Southern rifles, and is designed for fast, reliable ignition. Stocked in curly maple, and trimmed in engraved brass furniture with a natural aged patina. The L&R Lock Company round faced flintlock has a pewter gray patina finish. The 42" swamped octagon barrel has been finished to a dark brown and has a natural patina from handling and cleaning. The breech end of the barrel is signed T. Briggs. Lightweight at 7.7 pounds, the swamped barrel gives this rifle excellent balance. Trigger reach is about 13" to fit today's smaller than average shooter. Made with a slight amount cast-off, it will fit right hand shooters well.
The .50 caliber by 42" swamped octagon Getz barrel is cut rifled with radius groove rifling. Seven lands and grooves are cut with lands slightly wider than grooves. The bore is bright and has been well maintained. We recommend our .490" pure lead round ball, patched with .017" Ox-Yoke ticking, lubricated with Mink Oil grease, or other animal fat lubricant, if you require best accuracy for target shooting. The Germanic style rear sight is mounted in a raised dovetail 7" ahead of the breech. The front sight is a barley corn style brass blade with a integral base.
Modeled after the guns made at James River, Virginia, this rifle has a comfortable wide flat buttplate, probably circa 1750 to 1780. The buttplate has a stepped English influenced comb. The buttplate comb is neatly hand engraved with a decorative border, stand of arms, and boar's head. You may notice that the buttplate is not perfectly centered behind the tang. Rather, it is offset from the right hand shooter's cheek. This feature is called cast-off, and it places the right hand shooter's eye directly behind the line of sight, making this gun instinctive to point and shoot. The lock panels gently taper widest at the rear in early flint longrifle fashion. The sliding wooden patchbox has minimal decoration with three notches on the base for thumb relief. Beneath the door is a deep cut cavity for storing flints, patches, or other shooting accessories. Currently the patchbox has a brass ramrod extension and cleaning jag. The buttstock finish has a few dull streak from water with black powder residue wetting the stock.
The triggerguard has a offset grip rail and a wide bow to accept the single trigger. Shaped with a acorn finial at front the triggerguard is mounted with a combination of pin and screw in early fashion. The buttplate extends just past the toe of the stock to provide a small amount of protection to the fragile wood at the toe. The toe is often one of the most common areas to acquire dents and dings. The forend is slim and graceful. The swamped octagon barrel dramatically reduces the weight, and improves the balance of this long rifle. The muzzle end of the forend is protected with a brass muzzle cap. The barrel is served by a ramrod with a brass tip threaded 10-32 for loading and cleaning accessories. The large brass sideplate holds two lock bolts, and is decorated with a border, stand of arms and boar's head. The classic square longrifle cheek piece is shaped with a molded edge across the face. The cheek is accented with incised carving. The carving is well done with smooth curves and even line weight.
The round faced flint lock, by L&R Lock Company provides reliable ignition. This attractive early English flint lock has a round faced cock and plate, and rounded frizzen and pan surfaces. Locks of this design are often found on American longrifles and fowlers of the 1730 - 1770 era. The plate, cock, and other surfaces of this lock are finished to a pewter gray with scattered speckles of patina. The lock plate and flint cock are hand engraved with a traditional folk art design. We recommend our 7/8" knapped English flints for use with this rifle. The barrel has a White Lightnin' vent hole liner positioned well above the bottom of the pan and 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.
This used rifle has a well aged patina that gives used but well maintained appearance. The rifle is very neatly hand engraved on the lock and furniture. We recommend this attractive Virginia rifle for the French & Indian War era or the Revolutionary War enthusiast. 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.
