Trying to figure out what the original sights were

[madsweeney]

I have an 1850's (??) target rifle that I am trying to figure out. It's half stock,octagonal 34 3/4 inch barrel, just over 1" wide at breech and .980" at muzzle. The only markings are "R Ashmore Warranted" on the lock plate and "Remington Cast Steel" on the barrel. It's about 38 caliber ( haven't slugged it yet, but a 36 cal ball is too loose and a .390 won't fit, so . . .)

There's an old lyman 77 front sight that was added sometime and evidence that a Lyman 1A or #2 tang sight might have been mounted on the stock behind the tang.

There are 2 threaded holes about 6" up from the breech and 4" apart. No dove tail for a rear sight is evident. There is a very small (less than 1/4" wide) very shallow dove tail at the muzzle.

It would be nice to know who made the gun, but I'm more interested in determining what the original sights might have been. The bore is pristine so it's gonna be a shooter but I'd like to set it back to the original configuration.

To my untrained and novice eye it looks to be western NY or eastern OH style (??)

any input, guesses, conjectures, etc. appreciated

 

[Hawgeye]

Looks to have had a Vernier sight installed on the wrist. The shape and hole pattern is similar to that of the soule sight on my sharps rifle. As to style, the trigger guard and butt-plate have the look of Ohio built rifles, but that's just a guess. I have an original Ohio built half-stock in flint and converted to percussion some time in the last century (late 1800's, early 1900's is my best guess) with evidence of several different sighting systems. It came to me sporting a Lyman receiver sight attached with a home made mount, a front globe sight similar to yours and a bore freshed out to 46 cal. Your fore-stock is shorter than mine by quite a bit and my barrel is much heavier. Rifle weighs 13 pounds.

 

[madsweeney]

Mine's only 10 pounds

 

[madsweeney]

There was an Ashmore family of gunsmiths in England but IFAIK they were pre-percussion era. Was there an American Ashmore lock builder?