Fully Iron Mounted Southwest Virginia Rifle

This is a fully iron mounted gun of the late flint period that I made in 2004 as my personal offhand target rifle.   It has features found on rifles from Rockbridge County into Southwest Virginia and Eastern Tennessee, but is of a style mostly of my own creation.  It has a hand forged butt piece  and guard, and all the other mounts are hand made from steel sheet.  The barrel was browned.  The lock was polished and aged,  and all the other mounts were blackened and aged.  The 40 caliber, straight, Green Mountain barrel is 13/16" across the flats and 42" long.    A White Lightning liner is installed.  The lock is a Chambers Late Ketland.  The rifle has Davis double set triggers.    The stock is a piece of moderately curly, quartersawn,  red maple.   The stock is entirely scraped and burnished and the rifle is generally finished in a workman like manner.  The stock is stained with aqua fortis and finished in oil.  I have fitted the hickory ramrod with a plain sheet steel ferrule on the breech end that accepts a hand turned wiper made for the rifle. 

Carved Early Virginia Rifle

This is an early Virginia rifle that I made in 2004 as part of a class I took at the NMLRA Gunsmithing Workshop.   Rather than being based on a particular gun, it is encompasses the features of several pre-Revolutionary rifles from the Valley of Virginia.    The cheek side carving is based on work from Rockbridge and Augusta counties in the central Valley of Virginia.  The tang carving is typical of the Winchester area.  It employs butt piece and guard castings from Reaves Goehring.  All the other mounts and hardware are hand made.  The rifle has a 42 inch, 54 caliber, C weight, Colerain barrel.  A White Lightning liner is installed.  The lock is a Chambers Early Ketland.   The stock is a piece of fairly curly, slab cut,  red maple with the grain running nicely through the wrist.   The stock is entirely scraped and burnished and the rifle is generally finished in a workman like manner.   The stock is stained with aqua fortis and finished in oil.  I have fitted the hickory ramrod with a plain sheet steel ferrule on the breech end that will accept a 10-32 threaded wiper.

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Carved Early Virginia Chunk Gun

I made this rifle in 2005 for a friend.  The title here as well as the gun is a bit anachronistic.  There was no such thing as an early Virginia chunk gun.  Chunk guns were a product of the mid and late 19th century.  However, my friend wanted a chunk gun in a Hershel House early Virginia style.  As the project gave me an opportunity to try a few new things such as a captured patchbox and poured pewter nose piece, I gladly took on this project.

For those of you not familiar with chunk guns, a chunk gun is a traditional style longrifle with a particularly long and heavy barrel designed specifically for target shooting.   Chunk guns are shot over a log or "chunk" while laying on the ground.  They are shot at a target 60 yards away.   You take 10 shots and add up the distances between the center of the bullet holes and the center of the bulls-eye.  The shortest total distance wins.

This particular gun has a typical early Virginia profile and uses a butt piece and guard castings made off a Hershel House rifle.  The captured patchbox, side plate, poured pewter nose piece, and cheek side carving are based on Hershel House's interpretation of an early Virginia rifle as documented in his video Building a Kentucky Rifle published by American Pioneer Video.  While Hershel normally uses a beaver tail around the tang,  I thought that an acanthus leaf/fleur de lise design went better with the raised carving behind the cheek piece.   I spent more time on the carving and engraving than I probably should have for such a utilitarian rifle. 

As to the nuts and bolts, the rifle has an 1 1/8",  straight, 44 inch long, 54 caliber Rice barrel.  A White Lightning liner is installed.  The lock is a Chambers Early Ketland with a pan bridle.   The set triggers are by Davis.  The stock is a piece of curly cherry.   The stock is entirely scraped and burnished and the rifle is generally finished in a workman like manner.  The stock was stained with a lye solution and finished in oil.  I have applied a patina to the metal parts to simulate a good number of years of gentle use. 

A British Style, Colonial Virginia Fowler

I finished this gun in 2006 for a friend who wanted a fowler for a persona he was recreating as a merchant in colonial Virginia.   He knew that he wanted a 20 gauge but we had to work out the rest of the details.   Unfortunately, we were not able to locate documentation of an original colonial Virginia fowler.   After a little research and discussion, we settled on a British style fowler with a side plate, thimbles, and nose piece similar to some of the early rifles from the Valley of Virginia.   He also wanted a little carving and engraving with a southern flavor.  We decided on an achanthus leaf type shell around the tang and a vine with leaves and flowers on the side plate.     As always, the stock was entirely scraped and generally finished in a workmanlike manner with an oil finish.   Some chisel and scraper marks can still be seen.  The metal parts were lightly aged. 

The technical details:

Accouterments

A simple and functional two piece bag and horn based on examples from the late 18th Century.

Authentic hand turned wipers for cleaning your longrifle.  

This page was last updated on 06/23/08 .

Copyright 2008  by Mark E. Elliott