Guns International #: 101380624
Seller's Inventory #: 1908010

Category - Antique Rifles - Percussion - Kentucky Rifles

Category
Antique Rifles - Percussion
Kentucky Rifles

Antique TENNESSEE/SOUTHERN .38 Caliber Long Rifle with IRON HARDWARE 1840s Distinctive SOUTHERN Iron Hardware & Patchbox

Description:
Antique TENNESSEE/SOUTHERN .38 Caliber Long Rifle with IRON HARDWARE 1840s

Distinctive SOUTHERN Iron Hardware & Patchbox

Here we present an antique Tennessee Full Stock Long Rifle made circa the 1840s.

The American Longrifle, more commonly, but less correctly, known as the 'Kentucky rifle', was described by Captain John G. W. Dillin in the dedication to his seminal 1924 book, The Kentucky Rifle:

“From a flat bar of soft iron, hand forged into a gun barrel; laboriously bored and rifled with crude tools; fitted with a stock hewn from a maple tree in the neighboring forest; and supplied with a lock hammered to shape on the anvil; an unknown smith, in a shop long since silent, fashioned a rifle which changed the whole course of world history; made possible the settlement of a continent; and ultimately freed our country of foreign domination.

Light in weight; graceful in line; economical in consumption of powder and lead; fatally precise; distinctly American; it sprang into immediate popularity; and for a hundred years was a model often slightly varied but never radically changed.”

This .38 caliber rifle features iron hardware (patchbox, butt plate, trigger guard, ramrod tubes), a distinctive material used by Tennessee and other Southern gun makers due to the lack of copper and zinc available in the region. However, iron deposits were common and contributed greatly to local economies. Another distinctive feature of this rifle, placing its place of manufacture in Tennessee is the so-called “banana” style of iron patchbox. This one pivots on a hinge and is held closed by a latch. The profile of the stock is characteristic of guns made in Eastern Tennessee. This example is equipped with a double set trigger. These rifles would have been crucial and utilitarian tools on the Western Frontier for gathering food and protecting the homestead. As a result, many have been lost or destroyed, making these less common than others. Though perhaps not as decorative as their Pennsylvanian counterparts, they have an aesthetic beauty all their own.

The overall condition is Very Good. The action is strong. The set trigger must be utilized. The bore is in great shape with sharp rifling. Here is a fantastic example of a rifle from the Southern Appalachians of Tennessee!

Own the original! This is a legitimate antique and not a reproduction.

Barrel is 40-1/4 inches in length.

Caliber: .38

Overall condition as seen in photos.        

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ancestryguns

$2300

#190801
 

SOLD

Antique: Yes