Frontier rifles of Mississippi

[Perkinator]

Does anyone know what style of rifles the early settlers of Mississippi (Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek or before) used? I imagine it would be like a Tennessee mountain rifle, perhaps many caplocks towards 1830.
I'd like to make one like they would have carried.

 

[oldwood]

In the early 1970's a neighbor brought me his great grandpa's m/l rifle to redo. It was from far southern Illinois along the river. It had a back action percussion lock , single trigger , brass parts , and the gun barrel was tapered at the muzzle from 1 1/16" and 8" down to 1" straight for the remainder of the 40" .. The barrel was currently of around 45 caliber , and showed evidence of being swapped end for end looking at the barrel hangers. Obviously , it was cut and rebreached at least once to put newer rifling at the muzzle. Barrel went to be rerifled to next size up. The stock was in poor shape showing wide nonfixable spiral separations in the fore stock , and a broken wrist . Neighbor insisted on a new stock , and so we were on.....
Last time neighbor's son called me , the rifle was still shootin' and in Texas. Hope this helps somehow.. oldwood

 

[1950DAVE]

My guess would be Southern mountain rifle. Could be flintlock, percussion or conversion. 1830 is getting into the time of changeover for the most part.
Dave

 

[oldwood]

Dave......I think you could be right. Due to the close proximity of the mountain rifle heartlands, why wouldn't a southern mtn. rifle be a rifle seen there in Miss.. ? Also, trade came down the Ohio river from a very prolific rifle building center, Pittsburgh.. Everything from grain alcohol lumber , cattle, guns , etc. came down the rivers to Miss..
In about 1992 I went to the southern end of the Natchez trace on a trip. In the town there was a guy w/ a shop that made quality muzzleloader shot pouches. In his display case was a set of Western Pa. , rifle hardware . He said he was told the parts were found in a stream crossing just off the Natchez trace. As good of a story as any. The parts are generic brass parts from somewhere in the Ohio River basin/Western Pa. area. Now I've really fouled up your rifle planning process.. Oh well....Guess choices are good.......oldwood

 

[tenngun]

I’ve seen several southren made rifles that were mounted in brass, and silver, and a few mixed brass silver and iron.
By 1830 Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Ohio was shipping lots of rifles west and south via the Ohio River.
In the 1980s in south west Arkansas a family had a Hawken rifle kept in their bar as just a decoration. It was in their family for sometime.
Arkansas weren’t the market we think of for plains rifles.
While my first choice would be a SMR style any gun cr 1800- 1830 would fit.
Should your persona be well to do/ upper middle class or so an Ohio would be as likely as a plain southren rifle.

 

[Perkinator]

Wow thanks guys for the info. I know that my family and many others came with the slow encroachment from Alabama on westward, so Alabama-made rifles surely came with them, but the idea of trade from up north coming down the Mississippi would have added variety. I just wonder if many people had nice Pennsylvania rifles, or if any were made in Mississippi. I suppose that style was waning by the time Mississippi became became a state.

 

[516tcw]

Does anyone know what style of rifles the early settlers of Mississippi (Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek or before) used? I imagine it would be like a Tennessee mountain rifle, perhaps many caplocks towards 1830.
I'd like to make one like they would have carried.

Do an internet search for S. Odell , Natchez Miss. Great Mississippi rifle maker.

 

[smo]

Some Kennedy rifles were made in N.W, Alabama.

Being from that area, I always thought making a copy of a similar rifle would be cool...

Stutts,Key ,Garner & Richardson were names of other builders in the area.

 

[Perkinator]

Do an internet search for S. Odell , Natchez Miss. Great Mississippi rifle maker.

Wow his work is so tasteful and ornate. Very old Mississippi. Almost reminds me of the parlor of an old funeral home or antebellum home.