I went to the local Gun Show over in Mesa, Arizona today and saw the usual assortment of black rifles and plastic pistols.
There were a few factory sidelock muzzleloaders as well and almost none of those other things.
There was one gun which I found to be interesting though.
It was built by Roland Harper who had ties to the NMLRA dating back into the 1930s.
Roland was also a pretty good shot it seems.
Shooting Buffalo targets offhand he shot a 99/100. That is 9 X's and one 9 for 10 shots!
The following link from the NMLRA includes the following:
" A proposal for a Black Powder Hall of Fame for outstanding members of the NMLRA was unanimously passed by the Board of Directors in 1994. The first nominees to receive the honors were Roy ``Pa'' Keeler, W.A. ``Bill'' Carver, and posthumously, Red Farris and Roland Harper..."[url] http://www.muzzleblasts.com/archives/vol2no3/articles/mbo23-7.html[/url]
Although Roland passed on a number of years ago but one of his guns lives on.
Anyway, this rifle is a half stock .54 cal gun in Curly Maple finished unstained so it is blond.
It looked well made, the only thing being somewhat unusual being the barrel was pinned to the stock rather than being held in place with wedges.
The barrel was "target grade" and made by Bill Large. I didn't measure it but it looked like it was about a 1 inch octagon X 32 or 34 inches.
I should have asked who made the percussion lock but I forgot to. Its lockplate had the rounded rear typical of Plains rifles.
It is getting so that it is hard to find quality muzzleloaders built by some of the "old timers" from back in the '30s so I considered this to be an interesting find.
The asking price was reasonable but I already have over 15 muzzleloading rifles now and I'm slowly working on building another one so I didn't buy it.
Talking to the owner, for whom the rifle was originally built he said he was interested in selling the gun to someone who would appreciate the gun not only for its shooting qualities but for the history of the man who built it.
I can be PT'd if anyone wants additional information.
zonie
There were a few factory sidelock muzzleloaders as well and almost none of those other things.
There was one gun which I found to be interesting though.
It was built by Roland Harper who had ties to the NMLRA dating back into the 1930s.
Roland was also a pretty good shot it seems.
Shooting Buffalo targets offhand he shot a 99/100. That is 9 X's and one 9 for 10 shots!
The following link from the NMLRA includes the following:
" A proposal for a Black Powder Hall of Fame for outstanding members of the NMLRA was unanimously passed by the Board of Directors in 1994. The first nominees to receive the honors were Roy ``Pa'' Keeler, W.A. ``Bill'' Carver, and posthumously, Red Farris and Roland Harper..."[url] http://www.muzzleblasts.com/archives/vol2no3/articles/mbo23-7.html[/url]
Although Roland passed on a number of years ago but one of his guns lives on.
Anyway, this rifle is a half stock .54 cal gun in Curly Maple finished unstained so it is blond.
It looked well made, the only thing being somewhat unusual being the barrel was pinned to the stock rather than being held in place with wedges.
The barrel was "target grade" and made by Bill Large. I didn't measure it but it looked like it was about a 1 inch octagon X 32 or 34 inches.
I should have asked who made the percussion lock but I forgot to. Its lockplate had the rounded rear typical of Plains rifles.
It is getting so that it is hard to find quality muzzleloaders built by some of the "old timers" from back in the '30s so I considered this to be an interesting find.
The asking price was reasonable but I already have over 15 muzzleloading rifles now and I'm slowly working on building another one so I didn't buy it.
Talking to the owner, for whom the rifle was originally built he said he was interested in selling the gun to someone who would appreciate the gun not only for its shooting qualities but for the history of the man who built it.
I can be PT'd if anyone wants additional information.
zonie
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