Cochran Rifle?

[billholmes]

GUys I hope this is not the wrong place to ask but I have a question that maybe you builders would be able to answer the best. I got a flintlock Southern mountain/Bean-type rifle. Its .50 caliber, ash stock, no buttplate but looks like a buffalo horn piece inlet into the top of the stock at the back. I dont have pics but i will post some tomorrow or friday.

My question is about whether or not this was made by a guy a name of Cochran and if he is still in business. The lock does say "Cochran 1984" on the inside but other than this there are no markings to say who made the entire gun.

Surprising thing, and this leads to my question, is that someone saw the gun recently and told me straight out it was made by Cochran and offered to buy it right then. How can I tell for sure? Would it be worth anything? Who is Cochran? The only Cochran I can find info on is from the Foxfire books and he seems too old to have built this one. But I really have no idea.

I appreciate any help,
Bill

 

[Stophel]

Cochran was a lock maker (he could have made the gun you have, I don't know). They quit making the Cochran lock, what, five years ago?

 

[fluggies4]

There's a Cochran percussion lock made in the early '90s on the DGW site. Also a W.L.Cochran flint lock came up on an internet search. Maybe not the maker of the gun, possibly just the lock.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Cochran made locks, both Percussion and flintlocks. I have never heard that he made guns. I doubt he had the time. His locks were sold at Friendship, and through the mails all over the country. I suspect the gun you have was made by someone who simply bought a Cochran lock to install on the gun. No different than someone buying a Davis, L&R, or Chambers/Siler lock today. Usually a gunmaker puts his name or mark on the bottom flat of the barrel, or under the Buttplate. Until you have dismantled the gun and checked it thoroughly, you may not be able to know who built it. If the gun was built by the shooter for his own use, He may not have put his name or mark on the gun. HE KNEW who made the gun! :thumbsup:

 

[billholmes]

Thanks. I didnt think that Cochran made too many guns since i have never heard of any around. I did read in the Foxfire books that he did make some but never signed them. This just added to my curiosity since on this one I cannot find a single name anywhere, not under the barrel or anywhere else. There is no buttplate so its not under there either. Its such a nice rifle I cannot believe that the maker would not sign it.

I am going to post pics in hope that the person who made it will recognize it. Or maybe someone will at least be able to tell me who did. I would also like to have a general idea of its value if anyone could let me know.

Is this the right forum to post pics or should it be somewhere else?

Thanks,
Bill

 

[Bill/Ms.]

You are confusing two different Cochrans. Willy Cochran, the lock maker, was in Oklahoma. The Cochran in the Foxfire book is a different person entirely. When W. Cochran retired, he sold his lockmaking business to somebody in Texas and I think they are out of business now. I do not know if W. Cochran made any rifles or not, but he was active in competition shooting for a number of years.
Be Well,
Bill

 

[paulvallandigham]

I think Pawbill is correct. There are two W. Cochrans. The Lockmaker was from Oklahoma, and sold his business to a man from Texas, who never did more than assemble some of the parts he acquired from Cochran. Last " rumor " was that he has now sold the equipment and patterns and molds to someone else, who hopes to bring out the Cochran locks again.

I have the FoxFire series, and will have to go back and read them. But, the Cochran mentioned there is ( or was) a different person. I don't think the Oklahoma Cochran ever made rifles. I haunted his booth for several years at Friendship before buying his lock for one project, and then ordering his lock from another company for a rifle the latter built for me.

 

[billholmes]

I appreciate this info. This helps me to narrow things down and not be confused.

Any idea who may have been making flintlocks in southern Ohio around 1988? This was came from a gunshop near cinci.

Bill

 

[paulvallandigham]

The Cincinnati area was the first home of the NMLRA, before it was moved to Friendship, Indiana. There were all kinds of builders in that area of Ohio in 1988, and still are. Try to put up pictures of the gun to see if anyone recognizes something that is done particularly by one builder. Take the gun to Friendship for the Spring Shoot, in June, and show it around. There are lots of experts present who know guns and gunmakers. They may be able to tell you in a heart beat.

When I lost a priming horn in the woods somewhere, I took the matching main horn to Friendship and showed it to several dealers. They in turn told me who made it( unmarked) and where I could find him on the grounds. I found him, and found another priming horn that was about the same color, and the same size as the one I lost. Sale done. :thumbsup:

Ironically, because I use my priming horn so little, my main horn has lost some of its color and the two horns no longer look quite like a set as they once did.