Ramrods for Henry Carlile Flintlock (photos)

[Kitkatsiam]

I have an H. Carlile Flintlock that is in very good condition.  The ramrod is made of wood and is also in very good condition. So good, in fact, I don't think it is original.  How can I tell?  Would a Carlile have had a plain wooden rod or would it have been metal or at least have a metal end on it?

[JTR]

The rod would most likely have been just plain Hickory wood. It might have had a metal tip on the small end, that slides down into the stock. Generally speaking, the rods weren't anything special. It was a working part of a rifle and a lot of them were broken, and replaced.

And I can't help but say, if you have a very good condition Henry Carlile rifle, please post some pictures of it for all of us to see!

John

[JTR]

Kitkat,
Posting pictures is a bit more than cut and paste here. Below is the link to the tutorial on how to do it. It looks sort of intimidating at first, but is actually easy once you do it a couple times;

http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=10.0

Another way would be to email the pictures to me, and I'll post them for you.
If you'd like me to post them, just send the pics to jtrrobbins@msn.com  and I'll post them in this thread.

John 

[Kitkatsiam]

Thank you for the help.  Here are some pics...

[Shreckmeister]

That's a beautiful rifle.  Quite a treasure.  I think the ramrod looks appropriate, but a closeup would help.
Fantastic patchbox.

[Mark Tyler]

Is this the same Henry Carlisle/Carlile that was a gunsmith in Shippensburg, PA?

[Kitkatsiam]

Yes.

[Kitkatsiam]

Here are some pictures of the ramrod.  I think it is relatively new. 

[Buck]

Nice rifle, a friend of mine has one that is very similar.
Buck

[Kitkatsiam]

Would he mind if you posted pictures of it? I would love to see it

[JTR]

The rod looks fine to me, maybe, or maybe not original, but it makes little difference one way or an other to the overall value or disireability of the gun.  

Interestingly, the rifle doesn't look anything like the Henry Carlile rifles I've seen and handled.
The signature on the barrel is certainly his, and he also had a very distinctive engraving style, but it's hard to tell from the pictures if the engraving on the patchbox is in the style of Carlile. A good close-up pic of the box could answer that question.

Buck, Is your friends gun signed H Carlile as well?

I'm not suggesting that this isn't a Carlile, just that it doesn't look like any that I've seen so far. And had the name not been on the barrel, I would never have considered him as the maker.
None the less, it's a nice looking rifle, and if Carlile did make it, he wouldn't have been the only maker to make guns in two completely different styles.  

Thanks for putting up the pictures and letting us take a look!

John

[Mark Tyler]

This gun doesn't look like any of the Henry Carlile rifles I have seen either. The patchbox has an Ohio look to it. There are a couple Carlile's here on ALR that are typical of his work. His patchboxes and engraving usually have a shell pattern to it.

[Buck]

JTR,
This rifle is almost an identical match to my friends, at first I thought it might have been his. The Carlisle that is in the library is mine and as matter of fact I bought that rifle rifle from the gentleman that has the other rifle we are speaking of.That rifle also has the "National Roads patch box" from Ohio. I do not know much of Carlisle but he could have migrated west like many did before him.
Buck

[Mark Tyler]

According to "Gunsmiths of Pen-Mar-Va" by Bowers, Henry Carlile died in Shippensburg, PA in 1847.

Buck, can you get your friend to post photos of the other "National Roads Patchbox" Carlile? I have seen 6-8 Henry Carlile rifles; all have looked similar to yours (typical Chambersburg style). Most have been incised carved.

Mark

[Fullstock longrifle]

I suppose anything is possible, but for what ever it's worth, I've never seen a Henry Carlile that looked like this one, my initial thought was that the barrel had been recycled.  No disrespect intended in reference to this rifle though, it's a very attractive gun.

Frank

[louieparker]

There was a Carlile with an Ohio style box at the recent Princeton show..I was convinced the bbl. had been recycled ..After seeing this gun I wonder about my opinion on the other. I don't think this is the same gun but I guess its possible. Kitkatsiam have you owned this rifle for over three months? . If anyone has a photo of the Princeton gun , it would be good to have it posted ...Louie

[Kitkatsiam]

I bought this gun about 2 or 3weeksago.