Mowrey Gun Works

[Desperate Lee]

Griz
Nice find. Hope you like it. Never came across one yet. Maybe some day.
DL

 

[hawkeye2]

The ones without the support pin on the tumbler were the early ones. AlanG is right, the tumbler hole in the frame would wallow out fast and supporting the left side of the tumbler helped.

Mainsprings are somewhat of an issue with them due to the design.

At one time (15 years ago?) Deer Creek had enough parts that they were assembling and selling new Mowreys and also H&A underhammers.

 

[IL Rifle]

Griz44: No, my rifle does not have an adjustment for trigger pull weight. The pull as she is now is about 4 pounds. I just thought I’d post the photo since I know when my brother built to help date the change to the tumbler/sear. Is the cover or plate on your rifle relieved so the bushing sits in a cut out in the plate? Or does the bushing just sit against a flat plate? I also noticed that brawnyman’s Mowrey and mine have the same casting number inside the receiver-310. Outlan’s has a different number printed in the receiver and an extra support pin cast into the receiver.

 

[Griz44Mag]

Griz44: No, my rifle does not have an adjustment for trigger pull weight. The pull as she is now is about 4 pounds. I just thought I’d post the photo since I know when my brother built to help date the change to the tumbler/sear. Is the cover or plate on your rifle relieved so the bushing sits in a cut out in the plate? Or does the bushing just sit against a flat plate? I also noticed that brawnyman’s Mowrey and mine have the same casting number inside the receiver-310. Outlan’s has a different number printed in the receiver and an extra support pin cast into the receiver.

Yes sir, the coverplate has a receiver machined into it to support the off-side of the tumbler. Every couple of outings I remove the plate and clean inside. I use a bit of RIG grease in the plate recess to lube the tumbler. There is no casting number inside the receiver. Maybe all of the steel ones are identical?

 

[mikecurtis5758]

there is one on armslist now 450.00. beautiful wood. old west guns in henderson, nv

 

[flintsteel]

I own the original Allen & Thurber that Bill Mowrey copied to make his kit. It was about 1963 and he was living in Jacksborough, Texas and I was a student at TCU in Fort Worth. I had dropped the gun off at his shop to have the trigger spring repaired. Months went by without the job being done and finally when 8 demanded the gun back he brought out the wooden patterns of the pieces he had copied from my gun. In an earlier life Bill had been a tool and die maker in Wichita Falls so this was not something new to him. His patterns were fairly accurate to the original but not completely. The forend of mine is narrow metal, his wood. All parts on mine are cast iron, not bronze or brass. But other than that pretty good.

I’m glad there are shooters who appreciate what he did. They were (and are) good guns. Yes, as mentioned by a few posters above, the mainspring is a weak part. Same on my original. Mine has a short section of a very old cut nail jammed under the spring to stiffen it a bit. Still not a lot of oomph though.

My gun came from the J.M. Davis collection in Claremore, Oklahoma in 1958. But that’s another story.....

PS: the trigger spring still has not been repaired....55 years later....

 

[Griz44Mag]

I own the original Allen & Thurber that Bill Mowrey copied to make his kit. It was about 1963 and he was living in Jacksborough, Texas and I was a student at TCU in Fort Worth. I had dropped the gun off at his shop to have the trigger spring repaired. Months went by without the job being done and finally when 8 demanded the gun back he brought out the wooden patterns of the pieces he had copied from my gun. In an earlier life Bill had been a tool and die maker in Wichita Falls so this was not something new to him. His patterns were fairly accurate to the original but not completely. The forend of mine is narrow metal, his wood. All parts on mine are cast iron, not bronze or brass. But other than that pretty good.

I’m glad there are shooters who appreciate what he did. They were (and are) good guns. Yes, as mentioned by a few posters above, the mainspring is a weak part. Same on my original. Mine has a short section of a very old cut nail jammed under the spring to stiffen it a bit. Still not a lot of oomph though.

My gun came from the J.M. Davis collection in Claremore, Oklahoma in 1958. But that’s another story.....

PS: the trigger spring still has not been repaired....55 years later....

12 messages since 2004 - Not normally very talkative eh???
I would love to see some pictures of your original!!!!

 

[IL Rifle]

I own the original Allen & Thurber that Bill Mowrey copied to make his kit. It was about 1963 and he was living in Jacksborough, Texas and I was a student at TCU in Fort Worth. I had dropped the gun off at his shop to have the trigger spring repaired. Months went by without the job being done and finally when 8 demanded the gun back he brought out the wooden patterns of the pieces he had copied from my gun. In an earlier life Bill had been a tool and die maker in Wichita Falls so this was not something new to him. His patterns were fairly accurate to the original but not completely. The forend of mine is narrow metal, his wood. All parts on mine are cast iron, not bronze or brass. But other than that pretty good.

I’m glad there are shooters who appreciate what he did. They were (and are) good guns. Yes, as mentioned by a few posters above, the mainspring is a weak part. Same on my original. Mine has a short section of a very old cut nail jammed under the spring to stiffen it a bit. Still not a lot of oomph though.

My gun came from the J.M. Davis collection in Claremore, Oklahoma in 1958. But that’s another story.....

PS: the trigger spring still has not been repaired....55 years later....

I think the narrow metal forend was an option. The one on my rifle is brass.

And, flintsteel, Go Frogs! ‘79.

 

[flintsteel]

Ask and ye shall receive.....pics of my Allen & Thurber rifle copied by Bill Mowrey. Barrel is 34 1/2”, .45 caliber, breech .980, muzzle .930. Weighs 9 lbs even. Shot countless jackrabbits, coyotes, and a few deer back then.

 

[flintsteel]

S

Doesn’t appear to have ever had a safety half cock notch! But the hammer is relaxed when down on nipple. Whether that was by design or just a weakened spring I don’t know.

Notice the square nail head used to prop up the bottom of the mainspring. Neat piece of Americana.

 

[Griz44Mag]

NICE!
Thank you.
I did see one of the A&T originals many years ago at a sale, just did not have enough wits about me to buy it at the time.

 

[wparent]

Absolutely marvelous piece of history Sir! I can’t thank you enough for sharing the pictures. I have to ask; do you shoot it?

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

there is one on armslist now 450.00. beautiful wood. old west guns in henderson, nv

I live less than 30 minutes from that shop.

Tempting.

Should I go get it?

 

[flintsteel]

wparent, I haven’t shot it in 40 years but in the late 50’s and early 60’s it was the only rifle I had so it got a lot of use. I recall several deer I shot with it. Back in those days we did not have any reproductions and very few new made guns so we used what we had. And the originals were fairly cheap, no one thought they had any real value. I think I paid $35.00 for this rifle. But that was a LOT of money to me then. Times change. Now I have a wall full of contemporary built flintlock rifles and all have taken either deer or elk but none carry the memories this old gun does even though it is butt ugly. Ah, youth!

 

[Kowalsk1]

wparent, I haven’t shot it in 40 years but in the late 50’s and early 60’s it was the only rifle I had so it got a lot of use. I recall several deer I shot with it. Back in those days we did not have any reproductions and very few new made guns so we used what we had. And the originals were fairly cheap, no one thought they had any real value. I think I paid $35.00 for this rifle. But that was a LOT of money to me then. Times change. Now I have a wall full of contemporary built flintlock rifles and all have taken either deer or elk but none carry the memories this old gun does even though it is butt ugly. Ah, youth!

I think it’s quite handsome. Thank you for posting the pictures.

 

[Tanglefoot]

You're wiser than me, flintsteel. Some say that ain't much of a distinction, but I mostly ignore them. My first black powder shooters were originals too, but they're long gone. I also recollect when flintlock trade guns were still available on the open market, cheap. They were advertised in the back of the Shooter's Bible back then.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

I’m going to pass. The forend looks totally off and really ugly compared to the originals.

 

[Boston Bill]

The butt stock is a beautiful piece of wood. It must have been absolutely gorgeous when brand new!

 

[Stan Drake]

Mowrey made some fine rifles. I was shooting competition in the late 70's at Electra, TX and Brady, TX with the Red River Renegades Black Powder club and Mowery would show up with some rifles. I shot a few of them and one that sticks in my mind is a 54 cal, with peeps that we would shoot off of cross sticks for a Buffalo match. That rifle with the 1-60 twist was remarkable. It liked a little more powder that my shoulder did when getting the best groups.
There were a lot of his rifles for sale about that time because most would purchase them, mainly in smaller calibers and it would be too
heavy for them shooting all day. Like most, I was without funds then just getting a new job and shooting a Dixie flint Kit in .50 that was given given to me if I could shoot it and would take care of it. I really wanted one of the TX built later models in iron hardware in a .54.
Some guys around there had installed new barrels in .62 and .58 for Elk and other big game by Mowrey or themselves.
Thanks for the PDF file. Had a couple of articles from NMLRA magazines back in the day that I have kept.
Nice find on the kit.
Mike

I started shooting at the RRRenegades Memorial Shoot in 1978 or '79. Shot there every year for many years in their blackpowder competition. Most of them called me "Snakebite". I came down from Borger with 3 other guys named "Smokey", "Grizz", and "Snuff Dipper". I shot black powder competition in Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma and New Mexico for a little over 20 years. I bought my wife a .45 Cal. Mowery so shoot in the ladies competition and I bought a Mowery 12ga. shotgun. Still have both and never had a problem with either of them. We probably shot together at those competitions. The dance Saturday night was always fun out back in the dirt.

 

[Campcook]

Mowrey made some fine rifles. I was shooting competition in the late 70's at Electra, TX and Brady, TX with the Red River Renegades Black Powder club and Mowery would show up with some rifles. I shot a few of them and one that sticks in my mind is a 54 cal, with peeps that we would shoot off of cross sticks for a Buffalo match. That rifle with the 1-60 twist was remarkable. It liked a little more powder that my shoulder did when getting the best groups.
There were a lot of his rifles for sale about that time because most would purchase them, mainly in smaller calibers and it would be too
heavy for them shooting all day. Like most, I was without funds then just getting a new job and shooting a Dixie flint Kit in .50 that was given given to me if I could shoot it and would take care of it. I really wanted one of the TX built later models in iron hardware in a .54.
Some guys around there had installed new barrels in .62 and .58 for Elk and other big game by Mowrey or themselves.
Thanks for the PDF file. Had a couple of articles from NMLRA magazines back in the day that I have kept.
Nice find on the kit.
Mike

Hi, Mike.
You were with Red River Renegades? You may have known my late husband, Randall Weems.
He worked at Mowrey in Olney.
I still have his Mowry guns. Many people in Olney are not familiar with the local history, and are not aware that the Mowry shop was here in Olney!