"Tom,... Why would ol'P.T. have laughed at someone because of this trigger guard? Is it because it is steel? Sand cast? Are steel and iron synonimous in this case? Is iron/steel not acceptable on an early Lancaster...."
___________________________________________
Well, I'm not Tom, but I'll take a stab at your question and let Tom and the others correct me if I'm wrong.
Old Lancasters, and all of the other Schools of old Pennsylvania rifles usually used brass or bronze trigger guards, butt plates and thimbles.
A few used Silver but that was very uncommon.
Later, in the mid 1800s some Pennsylvania makers used German Silver (actually not silver, but a nickle/copper alloy).
The inland Southern guns like the Tennessee usually used iron hardware, usually hand forged to shape.
I added the "inland" because the Southern Coastal states guns are also often found using Brass hardware.
As I mentioned, the old inland Southern guns usually used iron hardware but finding real iron hardware is almost impossible these days so steel castings are sold.
For folks who really want iron parts, there are some blacksmiths who will make up the hardware but it is (as you might have guessed) very expensive.
Over the years, I've talked with some folks who really like the styles of some of the Pennsylvania rifles but dislike the shiny brass/bronze hardware the guns should have, prefering the dull look of browned steel. Most of these people are more Hunting orientated than History orientated and don't really give a hoot about Period Correct or Historically Correct guns.
Zonie
