Golden age: define

[kansas_volunteer]

I can't find me reference books right now. My rather large library is being reorganized and many books are buried in piles.So I want to ask, what exactly is the time period for the golden age of long rifle making? I'd like to see what everyone has to say, and maybe even a little civil scholarly debate if warranted.

 

[Zonie]

The man who coined the term, "the Golden Age of the Kentucky rifle" was Joe Kindig, Jr in his book, "THOUGHTS ON THE KENTUCKY RIFLE IN ITS GOLDEN AGE".

He wrote that following the end of the Revolutionary War in 1783:
"...It was this overabundance of gunsmiths after the Revolution that accounts for what I like to call "the Golden Age" of the Kentucky rifle. In the twenty-five or thirty years following the war, the most beautiful Kentucky's were made." (p 31).