Solomon Reed East Tenn/ North Carolina gunsmith?

[Dave B]

Having been prompted by the possibility of getting an old attractive barrel freshened out I stumbled across a signed barrel by a Solomon Reed. My Patch Box signatures book shows a picture of a walnut butt stock that has Iron banana Patch box and iron butt plate. I tried to find him in my book on american gun makers but no luck. Have you guys ran across the name before?  The barrel is 44" long and 7/8" across the flats. I did a google search and came up with a rifle that sold this last January that has the classic signature shown in the book. Here is a pic of the signature on my barrel.


The google search found this signed rifle that sold at auction

[Arnie Dowd]

Per David Byrd's fine book "East Tennessee Hog Rifles" (a book that should be in the library of anyone interested in this subject) Solomon Reed was born in Virginia in 1791 and was listed in the 1820 census as a Gunsmith in Tenn.  He and his brother, David, worked in South West Greene County, Tenn. in the Lick Creek area near Mohawk Tennessee.  There is more info in his book which you can get -  call him at 423-895-2988.  I believe he likely still has copies available.  You should also get his previous book (if still available) "Gunmakers of Buffalo Valley and Greasy Cove in Unicoi County, Tenn"
Arnie Dowd

[Cades Cove Fiddler]

  .... What Arnie said, ^^^^ ... I was at that auction and bid on the Reed rifle a few times,... sold for more than I was willing,... I bought the Unicoi Co. rifle instead,... gun sold to a telephone bidder... Guess someone needed a rifle by this maker, but his style was pretty bland,... not what I look for in a Tennessee rifle,...Keep posting your progress on this build,... I have an old barrel that I might have a gun built around too,.... interesting project,... Regards, CCF,......

[Dave B]

I will have to give him a call on that "Gunmakers of Buffalo Valley and Greasy Cove in Unicoi County, Tenn" Book.  I have a copy of copy of his "East Tennessee Hog Rifles"book and only just remembered where I had left it this morning. It has one Solomon Reed rifle in it. The Auction site has great pictures of their rifle. These iron guns kind of grow on you. I find it interesting as a side note that they seem to weigh a bit more than the modern steel barrels. I have another Iron mounted basket case and the 45" barrel  has some heft to it. I see Mike Brooks has a nice percusion lock that could help my project a long better drop him a note.

[Sequatchie Rifle]

One of the members here has a very nice Sol Reed rifle! He was a prolific barrel maker. He lived next to my 6th great grandparents in East Tennessee in the late 1700s. The following link takes you to photos of the rifle that sold over in Knoxville recently.
https://caseantiques.com/item/lot-494-solomon-reed-full-stock-percussion-long-rifle-40-cal/

[scottmc]

That is a very fine looking rifle with nice lines. Just one more to convince me those southern guns are the best (IMHO of course)😁

[shifty]

      Very Very Nice!