Old gun id help

[Grover Willis]

This old gun was passed down to me from my great uncle. He knows of 3 generations before him of men that owned it in the family. Mid 1800's is the best I can guess from the ballground area.View attachment 1113279View attachment 1113280

 

[gawildlife]

Pics not showing for me

 

[NCHillbilly]

This old gun was passed down to me from my great uncle. He knows of 3 generations before him of men that owned it in the family. Mid 1800's is the best I can guess from the ballground area.View attachment 1113279View attachment 1113280

Sweet old rifle! I'd guess mid-late 1800s from the half-stock and looks to be original percussion instead of converted. Most of the pre-war southern rifles were full stock. Likely made by one of the hundreds of independent gunsmiths that were in the southeast then. I would treasure that. Maybe someone will come along who can tell you more.

 

[fishfryer]

Can’t view picture, don’t have permission

 

[NCHillbilly]

Pics not showing for me

Click on the attachment links.

 

[JustUs4All]

I will be of little help. Are there any legible markings other than the decorative ones?

 

[fishfryer]

Click on the attachment links.

Still won’t

 

[NCHillbilly]

Still won’t

Hmm. Works for me.

 

[Pig Predator]

Yeah, I cant see the pictures either.

 

[NCHillbilly]

Let me try this:

 

[Grover Willis]

No other markings I can see

 

[NCHillbilly]

How about a close-up of the whole lock and bolster?

 

[kayaksteve]

Very cool. That is a piece of art and a treasure. Even more so with the family history

 

[gawildlife]

I'm by no means knowledgeable on the older ones like that and really hope someone who is chimes in.

What I do know is the period transitioning from flint to percussion prior to the advent of the self contained cartridges was about a fifty year window of some of the most fascinating developments in firearms.

If I had to guess I'd say that one was made by a local craftsman as opposed to a more commercial operation which were getting established at the same time period.
Some might call that a poor boy as it lacks the fancier brass inlays and patch boxes. Other than that it's a nice bit of family history. And I would just look to how best to keep it preserved and in the family.

BTW local made percussion guns were still being made well into the twentieth century. Kind of if it ain't broke why change.

 

[gawildlife]

Looks to be a swamped barrel where it has a slight flare towards the muzzle to add the right amount of forward balance so it "hangs" well in the hand for off hand shooting. Just one of those little subtle touches the old masters understood and one easily missed in our modern mass produced world.

 

[Grover Willis]

What is this? Sorry not familiar with gun terms. Lock and bolster

 

[Hillbilly stalker]

Very nice. Ive never seen a set trigger shaped exactly like that either.

 

[Grover Willis]

I am uploading a video of if but this is the information my mom got from my grandmother.

Old gun info. Sam Montgomery, Loy Montgomery, Frank Montgomery. Rifle was likely passed down to Uncle Loy which was passed to Frank. Mom said mid- late 1800’s. …….Sam Montgomery decided to kill himself. He cut his throat. Then he changed his mine. He ran to a creek to try and stop the bleeding . They found him dead in the creek.

 

[fishfryer]

What is this? Sorry not familiar with gun terms. Lock and bolster

We need to see the lock area, it seems to be a cap lock. It was probably made after 1840,with no Name or inscription it’s very hard to say. May have been made by an individual or unknown rifle maker. There is an online membership that has many experts and collectors. It cost nothing to join and they are really into old rifles. You could get a good opinion from them. AmericanLongrifles.org is them.

 

[NCHillbilly]

What is this? Sorry not familiar with gun terms. Lock and bolster

The lock is the hammer and associated parts. The bolster is the tube going into the barrel in front of the hammer with the nipple attached to it that the cap rests on.