Photos not available, but possibly will come shortly as in a day or so. I'm asking information for my friend, Billy Harkins, who has helped Dennis in his study of Gillespie rifles from Union County, Georgia. Billy is even less "computer literate" than I if that's possible,therefore I'm posting....anyhow here is what he has found in an isolated situation at home in the Mountains of Union County.
The rifle is half-stocked, .40cal caplock, never a flintlock. On the barrel are the initials T F M VI and nothing more. It has solid silver inlays and solid silver trigger guard, thimbles and buttplate. (Solid silver sounds out of place to me!)
The front sight is double dovetailed. The patchbox lid is wooden, but pivots on a metal pin and does not slide as does early Pennsylvania pieces. Billy questions the patchbox being original to the piece, and he's darn sharp about details. Provenance places the piece as being made in Guilford County, N.C. for someone in or for the Seacrest Family. I've gone over Jerry's 4 books on Southern Longrifles, and find no last name starting with an "M" with the initials T.F. Thoughts anyone?
