G.Beuttenmüller Chicago Illinois

[Klaus]

Dear Gent`s,

a friend of mine has an original Rifle from G.Beuttenmüller in mint condition.
i will post here some pics and beeing courious if you can tell if there some info exist about this Riflesmith , Number of Production e.g.
The Caliber is .401 and due to the fact that this Rifle is very good he has shoot it but with bad results because there was no info wich kind of Bullet, Load etc are needed for this Rifle.
may you can help out with some info also

thx
Klaus

 

[Rifleman1776]

Obviously a target rifle that looks more like it would have originated in Germany than ended up there.
You need to determine the twist and measure the bore. I suspect it is made for a bullet rather than patched round ball.
It is a dandy, keep us informed on what you learn about it.

 

[nkbj]

Could you supply information concerning the rate of twist in the rifling?
One revolution in how many millimeters?

 

[longcruise]

Looks like a scheutzen rifle and as said above, probably rifled for elongated bullets. Also looks like it may have had a false muzzle at some point.

I saw a guy shooting one similar way back and he loaded it with a false muzzle and a paper patch that was cross shaped. The kit included a die for cutting the patches.

That trigger guard is quite elaborate.

 

[nkbj]

http://www.cornellpubs.com/free-files/Shotgun Markings-Vorisek BW Portrait.pdf

There is a reference on page 20 of the pdf.

 

[Zonie]

G.Beuttenmüller was a gunsmith who worked in Chicago, Ill in 1853-1893.

The book, GUNMAKERS of ILLINOIS 1683-1900 , Vol I, by Curtis L. Johnson,Copyright © 1997 by George Shumway has an extensive account of him and his works beginning on page 65.

The book says,

“Perhaps the finest maker of percussion schuetzen rifles to have worked in Illinois, George Beuttenmuller’s name first appears in Chicago directories in 1853. At that time he was 32 years of age and doubtless a trained gusmith from Germany.
...
Beuttenmuller was a zealous member of a loosely organized group of rifleman called the “Burger-Schuetzengesellschaft” during the 1850's...
It is probable that most, if not all, of
George Beuttenmuller’s rifles were of the schuetzen type, primarily of percussion. One rifle described to me, complete with its gold inlay, may be as fine a percussion schuetzen as ever was made anywhere..."

There are several pages showing examples of his work.
All of them, with the exception of a breechloading double barrel shotgun and a percussion cap powered pistol, are Schuetzen style rifles with hooked buttplates and elaborate trigger guards.

 

[nwtradegun]

should the rifling be a quick one . 1 turn in 20 to 28. it uses a long heavy bullet. example is the witworth rifle is 1 in 20 uses a 475 grain lead bullet not a round ball.

 

[Zonie]

My Schuetzen is a .400 caliber and has a 1:18" rate of rifling twist. The rifling grooves in my guns barrel are .0015" (0,0381mm) deep.

The rifle shown above seems to have much deeper rifling grooves than my rifle has but I bet it is made for shooting paper patched bullets, probably loaded with bullet guide.

I don't see any timing pin hole to align a true "false muzzle" with the barrels existing rifling grooves so I assume the guide was unrifled.

 

[Klaus]

Hello Zonie
Hello all,

thx a lot for this huge info
first i will check what kind of twist and deep the Barrel has
As soon as i can get i will come back

thx a lot for your help

regards Klaus :hatsoff:

 

[Zonie]

Sorry to see the photos were either deleted or moved in their photo hosting site.

That kinda louses up what was a very interesting topic.

 

[Klaus]

seems to be a mistake by moving photos inside of PB
here the pics again

Klaus :hatsoff:

 

[Zonie]

Yes, moving or doing anything that will rename pictures in PhotoBucket will change the file name.

Thank you for re-posting the pictures. :thumbsup:

 

[bigted]

yes I also thankyou for reposting ... very nice rifle I must say.