Original Item: Only One Available. Just purchased at a recent military auction! This is a very nice "Pennsylvania" percussion hunting rifle, often referred to as a "Kentucky" rifle. The design developed in Pennsylvania, and then spread down the Ohio River Valley to Kentucky, where it was very popular. This is a very nice example, with a beautiful full length maple stock featuring a bit of curl figuring, a very common wood to use on Pennsylvania rifles. The stock shows a lovely gently sweeping curve, a trademark of the design.

The rifle features a mixture of brass and white metal mountings, with the small lock side plate being made from iron. It has a 34 inch long octagonal barrel with a bore of about 0.40", a common size we see on these rifles, which is cut with heavy 7 groove rifling. Overall length is 50 inches, and the barrel is relatively heavy for accurate shooting, much like "bench rest" rifles of the day. The top of the barrel has some simple punch style engraving, which looks to read W. Lough SHL, or something similar, a possible avenue of future research. It is fitted with a "trade lock", however this example is completely unmarked, so it was probably made domestically.

As with most hunting rifles, this example is fitted with a "set trigger", where depressing the rear trigger first until it clicks and just touching the front trigger discharges the weapon, hopefully with great accuracy. It is fully functional at present, and the hammer cannot be cocked at all until the rear trigger is "set". There is no half-cock position for this reason.

The rifle is in overall very good condition, with wear commensurate with age and service. It features a simple rear notch sight with a front silver blade sight, with no signs that other sights were present in the past. The bore still shows strong rifling, with a partly bright finish. There is some oxidation present overall, but it does not look to have seen extensive use, with the oxidation being from long storage. The metalwork shows a lovely aged dark gray oxidized patina overall, with no major rust blooms or other issues. There is a wooden ramrod under the barrel, which looks to be a working life replacement.

The stock is in very good shape, looking to have been varnished long ago, which then checked and cracked, giving it a lovely antiqued look. There is some cracking along the grain in the butt stock wood, and the continues up through the wrist and lock areas, with some open cracks and missing chunks just forward of the lock. Really a lovely honest used stock with no signs of major repair or restoration.

A very nice Pennsylvania Percussion Hunting rifle, ready to research and display!

Specifications-

Year of Manufacture: circa 1845
Caliber: approx .40" with 7 groove rifling
Cartridge Type: Ball and Powder
Barrel Length: 34 Inches
Overall Length: 50 Inches
Action type: Back Action Percussion Lock
Feed System: Muzzle Loading

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