The gun is in nice condition, though not perfect. The iron furniture is hand forged. The stock is a nice piece of curly maple, and it’s had a couple pieces of wood replaced on either side of the tang, and another over the front of the lock. It also has a crack in the wrist with a couple of pins put in there to support things. The ramrod is an older replacement also.
The lock is unmarked, but is a single bolt commercial one with a couple of turkey’s stamped/engraved on the back of it. There’s no half cock position, so the hammer is either down, or full cocked. The set trigger sets this thing off with only about a half ounce of pressure!
The barrel is 7/8” across the flats, about 34 cal, and about 39 1/2” long. There’s also a small wood plug about 5/8” ahead of the rear most barrel pin, so I expect that amount has been cut off from the rear of the barrel at some point.
Whoever made the rifle did a very nice job on the iron furniture, and it has a nice old finish to it.
Comments:
This handsome, upper East Tennessee, rifle is most likely a product of Ambrose Lawling's shop up in the mountains near the North Carolina line. The cheekpiece treatment is indicative of that area. In addition to the excellent ironwork, what really makes this rifle exciting is the beautiful stock architecture and condition. By all means, include this rifle in the Library as an excellent example of this appealing Tennessee school.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a beautiful little mountain gun that looks like it must have been a load of fun to take into the field. It has everything you could want in such a piece and the finish work is superb.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A beautiful example of East Tennessee rifles at their best! The dramatic architecture of rifles like this one is unmatched by any other style, in my humble opinion.
______________________________________________________________
No doubt in my mind , it's an Ambrose Lawing , and a very nice example of his work . I have owned two signed examples his rifles, one was in walnut and one in striped maple .
