documented longrifle

We often criticise the Italian (and other imports)--commonly negatively remarking on their styles. They mostly ARE based on originals, just not on the ones we wish. I recently rediscovered an example. Remember the longrifle used by Hawkeye in the early 70s BBC Last of the Mohicans? It was one like was imported from Italy/Spain by Centennial, Hawes, The Armory, and others in the 70s (if you have any of the old catalogs). It had an odd centered oval capbox/'patchbox' with a long finial pointing towards the trigger. Nothing like that was ever made some said! Well I found one. Trouble is it was made 100 years AFTER the F&I War when LOTM supposedly took place (and in percussion). It is a Arkansas made longrifle made by J. Draper in the early 1850s. It now resides in the Territorial Museum in Little Rock, but a picture is available in the book "Arkansas Made" Vol.1, by S.Bennett & W.Worthen, Univ. of Arkansas Press, 1990. Fact is many of the repro import guns do look like old pieces, but most look like 1840s-60s guns rather than the early periods so many of us want to emulate.

 

It occurs to me that I probably should have put this under the historical documentation section...oh, well...

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

I thought the rifle was custom made by Wayne Watson, to Michael Mann's specifications?

 

[bavarialand]

i beleive he is commenting on the 1972 BBC mini-series " last of the mohicans". i have only seen part of the series, it seemed a little to enveloped with the personal stories for my taste. Dave

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

Yup. I missed that. I've never seen this film--is it any good?

 

[RedFeather]

Isn't the period of of about 1840-1860 called the "Golden Age" or something? Longrifles from that timeframe seem to be quite a bit like the Italian imports in that they were stylized copies of earlier guns. Maybe the Italians copied some of these, which would explain the later hardware, stock styles, et cetera, thinking they were representative of guns made earlier?

 

The Golden Age of longrifles was coined by Kindig for that period between the Rev War (say late 1780s) and just after the War 1812--say into the late 1820s. The 1840s-60s was the late period of longrifles--and some fine ones were made, such as the Bedford guns, but most in percussion. One might say we are in the second Golden Age now with all the great makers out there today. Many of the production rifles on the market are more similar to the late period guns than to any Golden Age or earlier gun. The TC Hawken looks alot like the late "California" half stock rifles (ca. 1850s), for example. The Blue Ridge and its Pedersoli clones "resemble" some late period mountain rifles or PA barn guns. The LymanGPR resembles plains rifles of the 1840s. And so on. Our "mistake" is making them flintlocks and pushing them too far back in time, although in the south flintlocks held on until the Civil War.

 

Yup. I missed that. I've never seen this film--is it any good?

We discussed this BBC series recently here. Terrible costumes, gear, guns, sets, but true to the original story line from Cooper's 1826 novel. It is available on DVD for ~30 bucks and is 5 hr 45 min long.

 

[cowpoke1955]

I always thought HAWKEYE was a movie ad for Dixie. Lee Horeley "HAWKEYE" carried a rifle that looks like a Dixie Pennsylvania, made by Pedersoli. Same patch box style and trim. As Elizabeth Shields, Linda Carter, and her husband William were traveling through the frontier to Fort Bennington, they were attached by Indains. William used a Brown Bess Trade Gun, which is also offered by Dixie by Pedersoli, for self defence. Of course, Hawkeye and Chingachgook came to the rescue. I have the pilot episode on VHS and that is what they look like to me. I'll have to watch it again and see if they mention the props in the credits.