I was in a local gunshop today when a man walked in with a rifle which I,had never seen before. It was a percussion rifle with two locks and two barrels which were stacked on top of each other. The barrels didn't swivel but we're solidly in place, one lock presumably would fire the upper barrel and the other the lower. It had a patchbox similar to,that seen on Hawken rifles with two inlays on the right side. There was a cheekpiece on the left side with a small inlay on the cheekpiece and two others on the left side. The buttplate was narrow with a severe radius of curvature. All of the inlays appeared to be German silver. There was a very slender front sight and the rear sight was open and was adjustable. Both barrels,were rifled and appeared to be approximately 32 caliber. Triggers were double,set and according to the owner both worked. The stock was slender. The top flat of the barrel was signed although the last name was illegible. The first initial was S but you could not read the last name. The owner of,the rifle didn't have a clue as to its value and sold it to the shop owner. I think if it had been my rifle, I probably would,have sought some other opinions but he sold,it to him for a pittance. Overall the rifle was in pretty nice condition, it didn't look like there were any major changes that had been made to the rifle. The patina was what,you would,expect from a rifle that had been kept in a closet for a hundred years.
I would have liked to have gotten a picture of,this rifle, but the whole,transaction took about ten minutes- no time to ge my camera.
Does anyone have any ideas when a rifle with solid stacked barrels with two percussion locks would,have been made?
