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  1. plmeek

    Lock Identification

    Looks like an English import lock. The tail of the lock plate may be too corroded to give much date information, but probably from early 1800s to 1830s. You don't give any dimensions for the lock. It looks like it could be as small as 4 inches. That suggests it was more suited for a pistol...
  2. plmeek

    Hawken barn gun

    The Dunn Hawken is not a "Hawken barn gun". It is a heavily used and "frontier" repaired J&S Hawken rifle similar to other known Hawken rifles. It's presently in the Jim Gordon private museum in Glorieta, NM, and is pictured in his three volume book set, Great Gunmkaers for the Early West...
  3. plmeek

    What is about a Hawken Rifle

    I don't know if you are being serious or being facetious. Nor do I know if you are speaking for everyone in the club. But assuming you are serious and assuming that everyone in the club thinks as you do, how do you prove or demonstrate your belief? I've looked at several "J. P. Gemmer" marked...
  4. plmeek

    What is about a Hawken Rifle

    Here are a couple of pictures of my Hawken squirrel rifle that was built by John Bergmann. It's .40 caliber and has a 36" barrel that tapers from 7/8" at the breech to 13/16" at the muzzle. Bergmann made this rifle using Don Stith's parts set. I'm not the original owner of this rifle...
  5. plmeek

    Sear Spring Pops Out

    It might be easier to grind the tab on the sear spring to match the slot in the lock plate. In other words, knock the corners off the tab and make it rounded.
  6. plmeek

    What is about a Hawken Rifle

    I believe your rifle was probably a scratch built, or at minimum, built using a pre-carve stock inlet for barrel and drilled ramrod hole only. I don't know of any similar kits that came with a Siler percussion lock like on your rifle. The trigger guard looks similar to the guard that Sharon...
  7. plmeek

    What is about a Hawken Rifle

    Some Hawken rifles look very close to a SMR, just larger caliber for griz and buff. GRRW Full Stock Hawken in .50 caliber
  8. plmeek

    Best or Your Favorite Borescope

    No problem rotating the camera. The cable for the probe is pretty stiff and can be easily rotated.
  9. plmeek

    Best or Your Favorite Borescope

    It does kind a look like a bullet, but thompson50 is correct--partially. It is the hole and threads into the breach, but for a drum rather than a vent liner, though from that perspective, one can't tell the difference. It's a GRRW rifle and barrel. They quite often drilled a powder chamber...
  10. plmeek

    Best or Your Favorite Borescope

    I'm on my third digital borescope. The first one was the cheapest I could find on ebay. I was primarily interested in seeing how they worked plugging into my laptop. It was less than $10 and had a cable that was too flexible--no stiffness at all. Not one I would recommend, but I don't see...
  11. plmeek

    This old gun !

    There was a gunsmith by the name of James J. Gilmore that worked in Louisville, Kentucky from 1848 to 1870 per American Gunsmiths by Frank Sellers. Back action locks were very popular after 1850. Awaiting pictures.
  12. plmeek

    What am I doing wrong? (Cleaning)

    Polishing the bore may be a good idea. The flash rust will form more readily on a rougher surface because it has more "activation sites" for the oxidation reaction to occur. Heat also aids the oxidation, so I recommend dispensing with the hot water and using room temperature water. On the...
  13. plmeek

    Rifles of the Rangers

    This book is out of print but the the price is still around $95. The original list price was $75 or $80, so that's not a lot more. Some books jump up more than double after the go out of print. Anyway, this book has pictures of most of the Lancaster gunsmith I mentioned above -- Jacob...
  14. plmeek

    Rifles of the Rangers

    The Rangers undoubtedly brought their own rifles. This was probably a mixed lot. This part of Arkansas/Oklahoma was about midway between New Orleans and St. Louis and was supplied by both. There were a few gun makers in both locations, but the volume of rifles came from the East through those...
  15. plmeek

    Hawken rifle again

    That's a nice rifle Dale. I like the color and the curl. With the size of your barrel, I'd say you or your wife have your bathroom scales set "light". ha ha. This is one of my prettiest wood rifles. It's a GRRW full stock Hawken. It has a 1" x 36¼" barrel, .50 caliber, and weighs just...
  16. plmeek

    Hawken rifle again

    This is the first factory GRRW Hawken I bought. It has a 1⅛ x 36 inch barrel, straight octagon. It fits the description that R. J. provided above in that it weighs 12½ pounds on my scales. These big heavy Hawken rifles were popular at the rendezvous back in the 1970s. So much so that some...
  17. plmeek

    How far will the hot gases expand?

    You need to solve a physics problem--Ideal Gas Law a chemical reaction problem-- KNO3 + S + C = K2S + CO2 + N2 and a thermodynamics problem--the chemical reaction is an exothermic reaction and provides the energy (temperature) for the Ideal Gas Law All these problems need to be solved...
  18. plmeek

    was there a "transitional Rifle"

    Eric, I forgot about the 'Musician's Rifle'. And I had just been discussing the similarities between the patch box on it to the ones on the 'Brass Barrel Rifle" and RCA #43 last month. Wesley, this is the only picture I have of the 'Musician's Rifle'. It does show the date "1756" scratched on...
  19. plmeek

    was there a "transitional Rifle"

    That's been at the heart of the OP's original question and what most of the posts in this thread have been discussing. Assuming there was an evolution, are there American "transitional" rifles we can point to along that evolutionary process? The evidence of such is sadly lacking. I thought...
  20. plmeek

    was there a "transitional Rifle"

    This thread has about run its course, but I had a couple other thoughts to throw out there. Gus asked about rifles that date back to the F&I War and earlier. The answer was there may be some (a few candidates have been discussed) but unfortunately these early rifles aren't signed and/or dated...
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