Longrifles

[Tater John]

Good pictures Eric, :thumbsup:

What style and caliber?

Rusty

 

[gmww]

The pattern in the wood is beautiful. Reminds me of an upland bird feather pattern. A cross between a grouse and something else.

 

[Eric Krewson]

The gun was made by a fellow named Art Vandervogle in the late 60s or 70s. It has a 44 cal Bill Large barrel and Roller lock, and is very accurate. The gun looks like it was made without a particular style in mind. The inletting is not real precise but it is a great gun none the less.

Apparently Art worked for Abercrombie and Fitch and booked African hunts for high profile hunters with Fred Bear as one of his clients.

 

[Dave K]

Bill.....Go for it. Buy it, build it or have it built. You will really enjoy it and the Misses will be happy to sell it with the rest of the guns after you are done enjoying it. :wink: I do not have a gun that is so fine, that it is to good to hunt with. They are fine guns made for me to enjoy. I can spend hours looking for game and admiring God's creation in the woods, the wood and the hands that he guided to build the guns. Some I had built and one was built for me. I am honoring those builders by taking their guns afield. I am only leasing them while I am here anyhow. So I enjoy them as often as I can, you should too. :hatsoff:

 

[Stumpkiller]

I might mention that there WAS a reasonably priced longrifle, the Dixie Gun Works Tennessee Mountain Rifle. It came in big bore or squirrel rifle size, flint or percussion, right or left hand and was really quite a decent rifle for the price. It has now been dropped, presumably for lack of sales. The last price I recall seeing on it was under six hundred. I really don't believe there is a great market for a mid-priced longrifle, at least there wasn't enough to keep that one alive.

I had one in .32 much long before there was an Internet or this forum and had some reliability issues with it that I never solved. Tack driver when it did go off. Man, I wish now that I hadn't sold it!

As I remember they has about a 20 year run on that model. That ain't to shabby now-a-days.

 

[Geraldo]

And that's the reality of it...its one thing to bump a $400 TC Hawken against something and leave a permananet "character mark" on it...but to do that to a $2500 muzzleloader would make me sick, so I wouldn't hunt it either...

I went grouse hunting with a few friends years ago. We all carried modern cartridge shotguns. I pulled out my black Benelli, next up was a really SKB auto with a poly-choke, then a Ruger O/U, and finally one guy takes out a leather case and puts together his $2500 Beretta O/U. The three of us asked as one, "You're not going to hunt with that...?" He went through the brush with the rest of us.

Point being that they're rifles and shotguns. They get dinged and worn and that's the way it is. Every time I've bought a firearm that would have lost value if I shot it I either 1) shot it or 2) sold it quick. There are no virgins in my safe and there never will be.

I'm glad Roundball started this thread. I've been buying a lot of TCs, and I do like them, but I feel that a long rifle is in my future. Just got to clear out some of those funny modern guns to make room. :wink:

 

[dallas10c]

I have a locker full of guns, both blackpowder and centerfire and I will and DO take any and all of them out to the woods. Be it a cheap .22 for squirrels, a pre-64 Winchester Model 94 for deer in the snow or a 1914 all original Swedish carbine that is worth more then I care to think about. They were all designed for one thing...to be used, not to sit on a rack and collect dust!

 

[nchawkeye]

I guess I'm lucky...I used to go to Williamsburg as a kid and was stunned by the rifles they made...I was a history buff when in the 4th grade...I remember looking at muzzleloaders at the local sporting goods store while in college in the 70s and they had no appeal to me at all, just didn't look authentic...

I moved to Atlanta in 1977 and went to work for John Deere...That fall, I ended up in a shop in Stone Mountain, GA...This little shop had long rifles...Bob Watts was the owner...I put a down payment on one that afternoon...

I've still got that rifle,"Sweetheart" is her name, because of the heart inlay as a thumb piece...I killed my first muzzleloader deer with her in 1978...She started life as a .45, but in 1989 I built another, a .54 caliber that I call "Daisy", from the Lancaster Daisy patchbox...I rebarreled "Sweetheart" to a .40...

It's just me, but I feel that I've been blessed to own 2 fine flinters, in .40 and .54...I feel that I've got most of the bases covered....

Lately though, I've had a hankering for a fowler...NC is finally getting to be a pretty good state for turkeys.... :grin:

 

[roundball]

My turkeys with a .62cal Flint smoothbore last spring were a rush...as big of a thrill as my first Flintlock buck, maybe even more...and since then I've really begun expanding into more and more hunting with Flint smoothbores...you'll need to step right along if you want to get one ready by April 12th...

 

[kencolamarino]

How does one contact Brian Turner. Only thing I can find on the net is a shop that sells some of his rifles (Wayne Zurl)?

 

[eli crowe]

I believe his website is brianturnermuzzleloaders.com.

If not try Brian Turner Muzzleloaders on Google. That will get you there.His site is not real detailed but it will give you an idea.

He is another one of those northern Mississippi guys that makes a nice gun

 

[Runner]

I have a half stock blank where one side is the crazy mixed up wood like you posted. The other side is plain grain wood. That wood is going to be very hard to work with, and I am very happy to see one holding up to hard use! It is the only blank I have that I know for sure is beyond me ever doing anything with it. It will go to someone that makes fancy stuff.

 

[Joel Lehman]

Brian Turner built a left hand 62 cal fowler for me.His work is excellent and his prices are reasonable. I highly recommend him.

 

[Mike Vach]

:bow: Don't mean to intrude. I'm new to this forum and just thought I'd comment on the current topic. Roundball said he thought T/C should fill that $1000-$1500 "slot." While I agree there's a market niche there, there's also some nice shooters on TOW in that slot. The less fancy pieces, like the Colonial Era and the Federal era longrifles look pretty nice, as does that Lehigh Valley Schimmel. Can't go too far wrong with any of those. They're period correct as can be, apparently good shooters and I wouldn't be afraid to knock 'em around a little in the woods.

Now, if you were talkin' about a Dickert or some such piece from one of those schools with the fancy work, I'd agree. Save them for the range. That Isaac Haines looks really sweet, though, and if that builder says his carving has improved, it must be something to see now, 'cause that looks great to me.

Sorry to butt in.

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

No need to apologise Capt. Everyone is entitled to an opinion. And we tend to be an opinionated bunch around here anyway! Welcome to the Forum.

 

[RiverRat]

heck boys hunt with them and shoot them thats what they are built for. :grin:

a reproduction or modern custom ought to be out there making your hunts more enjoyable. How many hunts total do you get in your lifetime? Why not make every one special?

I had this custom built and It is my do all gun wether hunting in the rain/snow or just taking it for a walk in the woods to kill stumps :thumbsup:

 

[sniper68]

I had this custom built and It is my do all gun Werther hunting in the rain/snow or just taking it for a walk in the woods to kill stumps :thumbsup:

I concur 100% !!!! I gotta tell ya, I have handled a couple of "high art" rifles that didn't have the touch holes drilled or installed.. :shake: :youcrazy: To each his own.

 

[Mike Vach]

:thumbsup: Pardon my intrusion, River Rat, but is that there the Mark Wheland "Lion and Lamb," from Dixon's 2005 fair? Damn, that is a rifle to drool over - in fact, I did just that at the auction.

 

[RiverRat]

Capt.Vee, this gun is a copy of the gun your speak of. Mark actually combined the carving from two guns, the Lion gun with a brass patch box and the carving from the gun with the wooden patch box. Andreas Albrecht made both origionals.

The 2005 Dixon Fair gun did not have this extra carving.
I am sorry for getting off topic Roundball :v

 

[Mike Vach]

Naw, my fault for taking us off topic. Beautiful piece; great copy from a great gun builder. Christian's Spring is a favorite school of mine.
Nuff said.