Sgt. York

[ihuntsnook]

As I type I'm watching Sergeant York on AMC. Anybody got a clue about the 3/4 stock longrifle Gary Cooper carries. The ramrod extends 3 or 4 inches beyond the muzzle, and the lock looks like it's off a civil war musket. Turkey shoot scene is very cool.

 

[Captjoel]

I really like that movie! I am not sure exactly what Gary Cooper (Sgt. York) was shooting at the turkey shoot, but it did have the look of a Civil War era rifled musket. Probably modified to fit the look and era of a plain match type rifle?? Did you check out the rifle that young Dickie Moore who played Alvin's kid brother was carrying. It is best shown in the scene where he goes to the tavern to fetch Alvin for his mother. Pretty sure it is an original Nicolas Hawk rifle. They sure don't make movies like that anymore!

 

[necchi]

There is a data base for guns in movies.

The rifle you speak of was actually a Hollywood mock up, an 1873 Trapdoor made to look like a Kentucky, http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Sergeant_York
The ramrod sticking out was probably just a filming screw up that didn't get edited out.
I'm guessing Cooper couldn't get the rod in all the way and just continued the scene.

 

[Archie]

here is the youtube clip from the turkey shoot scene. You can get a pretty good look at the lock and barrel in this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCCpRfB5aUU

 

[necchi]

Well seems Hollywood like the rod hanging out a few inches.

 

[hawkeye2]

I don't see him using anything in the "turkey scene" that looks military. He clearly is using a piece with a heavy octagonal barrel and a very distinct fixed rear sight. I have watched the movie several times but not in years. If you have a clear copy you can see the fire coming out from under the percussion caps in the scenes where they show closeups of the shooting. By the way there is at least one more rifle with a ramrod sticking out several inches in the scene (or is it the same rifle handed over for that shot?). Would it have been common at the time to have used a longer range rod and to carry it in place of the regular ramrod?

 

[Tumblernotch]

Those database people don't know what they're talking about. That's a real hog rifle. It does have a M1855/61 or possibly a Whitney hammer on it, but it's for real. The 3/4 stock is unusual.
York's son Andy told me about them using some old rifles in this movie, including the one in the shooting scene.
It was also common for people to use long rods in these old guns. Almost every old picture I've seen of oldtime rifles and shooters shows rods sticking way out past the muzzles and quite a few had a pretty good curve to them. Plus, some oldtime shooters I knew years back used extra long rods. I've used them myself.

 

[necchi]

Well, if you look the 1873 trapdoor is the rifle the guy before Alvin has.
The data base isn't about just the guns that cooper used, it's about the guns that where used in the movie, :idunno:
Sorry for the confusion, it's just a handy link to look at "data"

 

[TennesseeJed]

The book Sgt. York by John Perry says that York sent his own personal rifle for Gary Cooper to use and that the producers wanted an extra rifle. They sent a check for $250 to someone working for the State to find them one. He sent them back 4 rifles and a check for $50...

 

[Tumblernotch]

Look closely at the youtube scene. The feller before Alvin is using a real longrifle. The gun he has in the still on the other website is a different one. What appears to be part of a Trapdoor breech shows there though it could be something else. The muzzle end of the stock is shaped like the built in cant block seen on many chunk guns, but the ramrod should actually go through it so as not to interfere with the flat surface of the cant block. The trigger guard almost looks like one from a P.S. Justice rifle-musket.

Don't worry about the confusion. I'm in a constant state of that all the time. :grin:

 

[Tumblernotch]

They got a pretty good deal didn't they?

I see you made it home. How long did it take you guys to get back? I wanted to tell you and Mark so long, but I got tied up and didn't see you leaving.

 

[TennesseeJed]

Took about 5 hours, making that trip was worth every second even though I'm pretty sure that was the worst I've ever shot in a match. It may be a year before I'll be able to go but I definitely want to shoot there again.

 

[Tumblernotch]

I'm glad you got to make it. It was good to see you again. The wind and light pretty much kicked butt this year as you could see by the strings shot. I've shot worse there before, but this time I couldn't get a spider if I'd paid for it. At least we ate well, huh? Maybe I'll see you at the York next Spring and maybe I'll have a lock made for Mark by then.