A pretty nifty rifle! Thanks for bringing it to the table, Pletch. We do appreciate it. It is a Bedford County rifle, and John, the appparent maker, was the brother of Jacob. The latter flourished in the trade while John didn't seem to pursue it as avidly. Jacob made a profusion of guns and he is generally thought of as having produced the best of the Bedfords. The suriving number is huge, by all accocunts so he must have stayed busy.
Jim Whisker gives a pretty good run down on the Stoudenour family in his several books on Bedford rifles. That this rifle is dated at 1834 says that it was made about mid period for the regional style. It began around 1800 and probably ended about 1900, effectively, (though I would argue against myself here, and say that it stilll goes on).
One thing that strikes me about this pieces is that John seems to have charted out his own course on ornamentation, shaping and style and didn't follow his brother, (I refer here to things like inlay shapes, PB finial, lockplate shape, among others). He didn't make just one or two rifles, obviously, and it behooves us to keep an eye out for more to come.
Gun has a lot of nice inlays which are still mostly intact. Can't tell which are silver and which are brass, but all seem to be engraved. The barrel may have been cut back a bit as most were out there at 44 inches, or so. It must have began its career as a flintlock, (many did) and later was changed over; the conversion is a dandy feature on this rifle.
Wood appears to be in reasonably good shape, although a number of the inlays need to be reset. The patchbox catch is located in the upper side plate corner by the buttplate and is pressure sensitive. By now most have been rendered inoperative by kids playing with it.
To my eye this rifle looks like the kids had at it awhile. At least during the depression, the owner didn't dig the inlays out to sell. The carving appears to be somewhat mediocre, but it is there, and is bold.
As to current value: a very fine Deffibaugh recently sold for 18K. Given that this piece is by a rare maker and has some family history attached, a premium might be in order which would have to be negotiated between the buyer and the owner. On websites you may encounter wild eyed opinions and offers, though I have rarely seen this happen, here.
Thank you again and good luck to your friend, he is fortunate to have your counsel.
All the best-Dick
