Early Rifle Kits

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TFJ

32 Cal
Joined
Aug 15, 2024
Messages
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Location
WI
Hey Guys,

Lost my old account information or the account itself was deleted. I've been out of the gun hobby since Covid, just started ramping back up again a couple weeks ago. Tonight I stopped in a shop and they had a long rifle in their muzzle loader section. I couldn't find any clear dates or markings, It had seen better days. I think there was potentially some writing on the top of the barrel between the breach and the rear sight, but it was very fine/faint and scribed in, It wasn't stamped. You could tell the stock was a nice piece of stripped maple originally but had some repairs done over the years with various materials. Caliber was over .50. For it's length it felt fairly light. The lock was a very very crude percussion setup. It looked old and not of high quality. It didn't appear to match the rest of the rifle. The triggers were tiny, and cylindrical with little to no curvature, and very crude. The guard was roughly cast brass that had been broken at some point. I almost bought it just to throw up on the wall, but the sales kid told me it wasn't a historical piece, he figured it was a turn of the century kit gun in his mind and they used to have a black powder lover that worked there and he didn't want to drag it home. I figured that guy knew better than me so I drove away and wrote it off until I got to the next shop. Up on the wall was a 1816 commemorative Remington flint lock. The commemorative was almost a dead ringer for the the "wall hanger" at the previous store. Other than the lock and small triggers on the wall hangler. I described said wall hanger to the guy and he said it may actually be an original long rifle. At that point the wall hanger shop was closed for the day.

I didn't take any pictures of the wall hanger.

Is there such thing as a turn of the century 1890-1910 kit muzzle loader? The gun appeared to be at least 100 years old. It had real deal patina.

Any thoughts or help would be appreciated.
 
I wouldn’t think any kit gun was offered back then. Many people of varying talents have and still are building muzzle loaders. And many old rifles have been rebuilt/modified over the years. Photos (many) would be interesting.
 
I saw one of the Remington commemoratives at auction site, but don't know what it sold for. Looking at the beautiful photos in Muzzleloader magazine, one is struck at the authentic appearance of the modern-made, 'aged' guns and knives, etc.
 
Gents, I went back and bought the rifle.
 

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Hmmm, the rest of the pics keep erroring out. I'll try again tomorrow.
 
Hey Guys,

Lost my old account information or the account itself was deleted. I've been out of the gun hobby since Covid, just started ramping back up again a couple weeks ago. Tonight I stopped in a shop and they had a long rifle in their muzzle loader section. I couldn't find any clear dates or markings, It had seen better days. I think there was potentially some writing on the top of the barrel between the breach and the rear sight, but it was very fine/faint and scribed in, It wasn't stamped. You could tell the stock was a nice piece of stripped maple originally but had some repairs done over the years with various materials. Caliber was over .50. For it's length it felt fairly light. The lock was a very very crude percussion setup. It looked old and not of high quality. It didn't appear to match the rest of the rifle. The triggers were tiny, and cylindrical with little to no curvature, and very crude. The guard was roughly cast brass that had been broken at some point. I almost bought it just to throw up on the wall, but the sales kid told me it wasn't a historical piece, he figured it was a turn of the century kit gun in his mind and they used to have a black powder lover that worked there and he didn't want to drag it home. I figured that guy knew better than me so I drove away and wrote it off until I got to the next shop. Up on the wall was a 1816 commemorative Remington flint lock. The commemorative was almost a dead ringer for the the "wall hanger" at the previous store. Other than the lock and small triggers on the wall hangler. I described said wall hanger to the guy and he said it may actually be an original long rifle. At that point the wall hanger shop was closed for the day.

I didn't take any pictures of the wall hanger.

Is there such thing as a turn of the century 1890-1910 kit muzzle loader? The gun appeared to be at least 100 years old. It had real deal patina.

Any thoughts or help would be appreciated.
Nah, There were so many cheap ones available that kits or the fraternity that demanded then, didn't come in it's own until the 1950's-60's. You could buy a nice Enfield rifle musket for $35 bucks in the early 1960's.
 
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