I had the pleasure of handling the famed Marshall rifle in the 1970's at the museum where it was in Pennsylvania. Curator was kind enough to bring it out for me on a slow weekday. The Marshall rifle is known to have belonged to Edward Marshall, an important man in Pennsylvania history. He helped "negotiate" a very favorable purchase of land from the Delaware tribe in the infamous "walking purchase", In this case, it wasn't "buyer beware", it was "seller beware." For those who don't know about the rifle, it is an early and spectacular rifle of Christian's Spring style, believe to have been made at the Moravian gunshop near Bethlehem. It is one of the most important documented American longrifles. It has been estimated to have been built as early as the 1730's, when Edward Marshall had a rifle with him in his famous "walk". Others believe it has characteristics unknown before the 1770s. Probably the majority of students of the longrifle date it to the 1760's.
I'll just reiterate the findings John Bivins summed up in his article, "The Edward Marshall Rifle: An Examination". This was published in Muzzle Blasts in August of 1986. Many of you may not have the article, which is very detailed and interesting. He specifically sought clues to help determine whether the gun was a restock of components that had been on another gun.
He was able to disassemble the rifle and this gave important clues.
It is well known that the barrel on the Marshall rifle has a crude inscription , "IAD ROTHEN BERG" and there is evidence the barrel was once inverted- or is now "upside down" in the stock.
Bivins said, "There is no question, in other words, that the Marshall rifle is something of a Rosetta stone in the Chrtistiansbrun school, and reveals as well numerous details typical of early Lancaster work."
Stock dimensions:
LOP=14", drop at comb, 1 3/8", drop at heel, 2 5/16", castoff 1/2", butt is 5 and 1/4" high and 2 9/16" thick. Bivins says the wooden sliding patchbox lid is original.
"The beveled lock used on the Marshall rifle is a typical German lock in the French style; the relatively straight lower line of the buttplate, coupled with the use of a bridle pan, suggests a date after the 1730's, and in fact a post-1750 production seems reasonable." ....."The cock of the Marshall lock reveals an ancient lapped and pinned repair which obliterated most of the engraving once adorning the face of the cock."
Barrel: "a very deep touchmark 1/4" x 3/8" in size, located near the breech. The intaglio die was cut with a pair of scissors or shears, providing an interesting though inconclusive link with rifle number 40 in Shumway..." (he means Rifles in Colonial America by George Shumway, volume 1).
"The three pin loops dovetailed into the bottom flat of the barrel show no particular evidence of alteration, and this may indicate replacement of the loops unless the American who stocked the barrel managed to drill the barrel pin holes on center with the existing lugs. The bottom flats of the barrel reveal traces of what appears to have been a fire blue, a typical finish for European barrels, and even American barrels of such as early date. The tang shows an early repair evidently resulting in a break through the tang screw hole; the tang was repaired with a second piece of iron used to replace the missing tip of the tang. This piece actually constitutes a shiplapped joint....This repair leads to an intersting speculation. The tang could not have been broken while in the Marshall rifle stock, though it could have been damaged by dropping the barrel on the tang with the barrel out of the stock. A plausible alternative, however, is that the tang damage occurred when the barrel was in another stock which was destroyed in some fashion, likely broken through the wrist."
"Removal of the trigger guard revealed no secondary pin holes in the pin lug, indicating that the guard is almost certain;y original to the stock."
Bivins details that the buttplate is made of cross-peened brass with pewter or lead poured into the heel because the thin brass had worn through.
Bivins concludes: "Strictly speaking, the rifle should not be considered a restock, but rather a full American stocking-up of a European barrel and lock. The relatively long barrel itself is not unusual, for longrifles were in use in Germany as "buschen fur die pirsch"- stalking rifles- as early as the seventeenth century." (I am tired of typing so will skip some stuff) "In any event, the mounts themselves, like the stockwork, may all be attributed to the Christiansbrunn shop. A likely date range might seem to fall within Albrecht's own tenure there, 1762-1766, though it is possible the stock was made as early as the 1750's. The author does not believe that a date before the 1750s is plausible."
I'll just reiterate the findings John Bivins summed up in his article, "The Edward Marshall Rifle: An Examination". This was published in Muzzle Blasts in August of 1986. Many of you may not have the article, which is very detailed and interesting. He specifically sought clues to help determine whether the gun was a restock of components that had been on another gun.
He was able to disassemble the rifle and this gave important clues.
It is well known that the barrel on the Marshall rifle has a crude inscription , "IAD ROTHEN BERG" and there is evidence the barrel was once inverted- or is now "upside down" in the stock.
Bivins said, "There is no question, in other words, that the Marshall rifle is something of a Rosetta stone in the Chrtistiansbrun school, and reveals as well numerous details typical of early Lancaster work."
Stock dimensions:
LOP=14", drop at comb, 1 3/8", drop at heel, 2 5/16", castoff 1/2", butt is 5 and 1/4" high and 2 9/16" thick. Bivins says the wooden sliding patchbox lid is original.
"The beveled lock used on the Marshall rifle is a typical German lock in the French style; the relatively straight lower line of the buttplate, coupled with the use of a bridle pan, suggests a date after the 1730's, and in fact a post-1750 production seems reasonable." ....."The cock of the Marshall lock reveals an ancient lapped and pinned repair which obliterated most of the engraving once adorning the face of the cock."
Barrel: "a very deep touchmark 1/4" x 3/8" in size, located near the breech. The intaglio die was cut with a pair of scissors or shears, providing an interesting though inconclusive link with rifle number 40 in Shumway..." (he means Rifles in Colonial America by George Shumway, volume 1).
"The three pin loops dovetailed into the bottom flat of the barrel show no particular evidence of alteration, and this may indicate replacement of the loops unless the American who stocked the barrel managed to drill the barrel pin holes on center with the existing lugs. The bottom flats of the barrel reveal traces of what appears to have been a fire blue, a typical finish for European barrels, and even American barrels of such as early date. The tang shows an early repair evidently resulting in a break through the tang screw hole; the tang was repaired with a second piece of iron used to replace the missing tip of the tang. This piece actually constitutes a shiplapped joint....This repair leads to an intersting speculation. The tang could not have been broken while in the Marshall rifle stock, though it could have been damaged by dropping the barrel on the tang with the barrel out of the stock. A plausible alternative, however, is that the tang damage occurred when the barrel was in another stock which was destroyed in some fashion, likely broken through the wrist."
"Removal of the trigger guard revealed no secondary pin holes in the pin lug, indicating that the guard is almost certain;y original to the stock."
Bivins details that the buttplate is made of cross-peened brass with pewter or lead poured into the heel because the thin brass had worn through.
Bivins concludes: "Strictly speaking, the rifle should not be considered a restock, but rather a full American stocking-up of a European barrel and lock. The relatively long barrel itself is not unusual, for longrifles were in use in Germany as "buschen fur die pirsch"- stalking rifles- as early as the seventeenth century." (I am tired of typing so will skip some stuff) "In any event, the mounts themselves, like the stockwork, may all be attributed to the Christiansbrunn shop. A likely date range might seem to fall within Albrecht's own tenure there, 1762-1766, though it is possible the stock was made as early as the 1750's. The author does not believe that a date before the 1750s is plausible."
