just curious about a rifle

[7tharkinf]

Was wondering what would have been more likely to be used by a hunter in the northern Arkansas region in the early to mid 19th century?

 

[Ringel05]

Depends, the era you're indicating covers flintlocks to percussion, rifled and smoothbore including muzzelloading shotguns.

 

[7tharkinf]

Well looking for a percussion rifle

 

[Coot]

Percussion would be from the middle of the 19th c, not in the first 1/3.

 

[Ringel05]

Honestly there is a wide range of firearms (just in percussion alone) to choose from but if you want to do anything pre-1835 percussion out west would still be rare if not virtually non existent.
Heck your options are huge so in order to help direct you you need to narrow it down, which longarm do you like, Hawkins, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Kentucky, Leman, Harpers Ferry?

 

[7tharkinf]

I think I lean more toward the longer rifles the Kentucky or Pennsylvania style.

 

[Ringel05]

I think I lean more toward the longer rifles the Kentucky or Pennsylvania style.

Okay but remember if you go percussion you'll be post 35 (some will claim post-1840) but if you go flint it will run the entire time range you stated.
Next question is how much money do you want to spend, how much "building" are you willing to do and how historically accurate do you want the rifle to be?

 

[7tharkinf]

Well I want to be historically accurate as possible im not a gun builder by any means. I know that you get what you pay for but I don't want to get really deep into it. I wouldn't mind trying a flintlock just never have used one and don't know much about them. but also this will be my main hunting rifle I only hunt blackpowder I gave up modern weapons long ago.

 

[Alden]

Tough call. Would this also be your first historically traditional caplock?

 

[Ringel05]

Well I want to be historically accurate as possible im not a gun builder by any means. I know that you get what you pay for but I don't want to get really deep into it. I wouldn't mind trying a flintlock just never have used one and don't know much about them. but also this will be my main hunting rifle I only hunt blackpowder I gave up modern weapons long ago.

I have used percussion for 25 years (Civil War) but my main love has always been the colonial period. Never built a longarm but picked one up for Christmas to build at long last. Freaked me out at first when I saw how much work has to be done but eventually I got over the initial shock and am slowly proceeding with it.
As for buying a fully built one others here (I hope)will chime in with their vendor choices cause I am limited in my knowledge to pretty much Track of the Wolf (more correct but expensive) and Dixie Gun Works (not super correct but passable and much less expensive)

Here's Dixie:
Dixie Gun Works Muzzelloading longarms
Ignore the "inlines", they're modern.

ToTW:

Track of The Wolf Guns

That will give you some idea.

 

[Luke MacGillie]

thinking that Percussion is a 1840 or even 1850 thing is kinda wrong. The Colt Paterson came to market in 1836, it was percussion. Nathaniel Wyeth was converting rifles to Percussion at Rendevous prior to 1837.

"In 1838 Adolphus Meir & Company of St. Louis was advertising "1 000 000 S&B [percussion] caps in small boxes".""Gunsmoke and saddle leather: firearms in the nineteenth-century American West" by Charles G. Worman

 

[George]

A bit earlier reference”¦ from Wm. Blane, "An Excursion through the United States and Canada, during the Years 1822-3 by an English Gentleman". He visited the armories at Springfield and Harper's Ferry and said:

"Experiments are making to ascertain whether locks on the percussion principle cannot be applied to small arms, and it seems probable that these locks will soon be adopted."

At the Washington Navy Yard:

"The locks of the ship guns are well made, and on a very good principle. There is a magazine in each lock; and for sixty successive times the mere action of shutting the pan primes the cannon. It is probable however, that the flint locks will very soon be entirely disused; as while I was at New York, some experiments were going on, to ascertain the practicability of applying percussion locks both to ship guns and field pieces."

Spence

 

[Ringel05]

thinking that Percussion is a 1840 or even 1850 thing is kinda wrong. The Colt Paterson came to market in 1836, it was percussion. Nathaniel Wyeth was converting rifles to Percussion at Rendevous prior to 1837.

"In 1838 Adolphus Meir & Company of St. Louis was advertising "1 000 000 S&B [percussion] caps in small boxes".""Gunsmoke and saddle leather: firearms in the nineteenth-century American West" by Charles G. Worman

Yes I know but "erring on the side of caution" as there are those who have argued that percussion wasn't readily available out west until after 1840. Despite the fact that Forsyth allowed his percussion patent to lapse in 1822 and many (if not most) manufacturers started producing percussion firearms almost immediately.

 

[7tharkinf]

No I have and army sport three band enfield with a whitacre barrel and functionally the same just not time period correct I use a t/c new Englander to hunt with now.

 

[nwtradegun]

flintlock smoothbore. fits any time in that era.

 

[smoothshooter]

Flint smoothbore of almost any kind except double barrel would definitely be appropriate. Most types of flint rifles of the cheaper variety would have been correct, with some of the people who were more recent arrivals to the area having better quality guns overall. I don't think there was a lot of money to be made by any means in most of the northern Arkansas or southern Missouri areas during that time period. Life was hard, mean, and dirty for most residents at that time. Refer to the diaries of Henry Schoolcraft and other literate chroniclers who passed through that area in the very early 1800's for some pretty shocking observations on prevailing living conditions. It was his opinion that most of the white residents ( especially the smaller children ) lived in squalor below that of the Savages ( Indians ).

 

[7tharkinf]

Little leery about smoothbores at this time due to accuracy and my complete ignorance of how to use them properly would much rather go with a rifle for now and then maybe get a smoothbore a little later. As I said it will be my main hunting rifle.

 

[7tharkinf]

I was looking at pedersoli's rifles and I am liking the frontier flintlock rifle was wondering how good a reproduction this rifle was if anyone has had any dealing with it.

 

[Critter Getter]

I have a 50 caliber Pedersoli Blue Ridge (Frontier) in a flint and a 36 caliber Frontier in a percussion. These are copies of Ted Hatfields rifles ( St. joe, MO.)which in turn were supposed to be patterned after one of his Great Great Grandparents rifle. I don't know exactly what year the rifle of the Grandparent was. Mine is very reliable and although I much prefer my Hatfields the Pedersoli guns seem to be nice guns! Greg.

 

[Rick Boylan]

I own a Pedersoli Kentucky rifle in .45. It's a beautiful gun and very well made. Most on here will tell you that production guns such as these Pedersoli guns are not accurate copies or reproductions of any "school" or historical guns. They are kind of a frankengun combining looks from different historical guns into one.