AmericanLongRifles Forums
General discussion => Gun Building => Topic started by: fm tim on October 30, 2011, 09:03:07 PM
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After building a number of Lancaster County school rifles, I used my time in the Jacobsburg Historical Society longrifle gunsmithing class to work on a Lehigh Valley style rifle. The combined knowledge of Rich Hujsa, Jim Correll, and Carl Landis at Jacobsburg was a huge help in getting it approximately right.
Subsequently, Rich Hujsa and Joe Flemish presented a seminar on Lehigh Valley rifle characteristics at the 2011 Dixons Gun makers Fair.
I have accumulated the following characteristics from a number of referenced sources, and I hope others with a better background in the material will add to the list. The characteristics are grouped by the person who mentioned them. Many of the characteristics (such as the “Roman nose”) are repeated in the sources, but I do not repeat them here.
J W Heckert (jwh1947 on ALR)
List of identifying characteristics of Lehigh rifles.
This list is neither necessary nor sufficient to identify all Lehighs, and period of manufacture makes a difference, but here are some things to consider:
• May have had extreme drop
• Sheath butt plates, does not come out to side of stock. Inlet down
• Two-piece, wide patch box with Fleur-de-lis finial and engraving,
• Classic curvilinear butt stock profile with double radius at bottom (lost on later examples),
• Spade trigger,
• Trigger guard with wide bow and pronounced stud forward of the bow, looking like a sling rivet could have been put there.
• Wider than high wrist. (lost on later examples),
• Thimbles with 16 facets and a thumbnail in rear thimble (later examples sometimes lack a rear pipe),
• Tiny sights,
• If present, the nose cap should have an open front and be formed to accept part of the ramrod shape.
• V-shaped contour to forestock.
• If patchbox is present, release normally is at rear,
• The presence of the "Allentown Indian"
• Prayer hole in the cavity if there is a patch box.
E Kettenburg (from his website)
• Fore-stock only 1/3 of the way up the side barrel flat
• “Stepped wrist”. Second curve on bottom of butt stock starting at the junction of the stock and rear trigger guard extension, and extending to the front of the trigger guard bow.
• “Stepped Wrist” may be above the bottom line of the forestock at its highest point (hence wider than high wrist)
• Ramrod grove extends only 1/3 of the way up the ramrod diameter.
• The buttplate carries a somewhat short upper extension which is usually let into the comb rather than spanning it completely
Ron Gabel (Early Pennsylvania Gunsmithing talk before American Society of Arms Collectors Bulletin # 80, Copyright 1999.)
• The rifle has a unique stock profile curved top and bottom with a double curve on the bottom beginning at the trigger-guard.
• Rear of side plate is an arrow-head.
• Rear trigger guard rail almost parallel to stock.
From Dixon’s 2011 Fair Seminar by Rich Hujsa and Joe Flemish
• Rear sight cross piece is in the middle of the sight base.
• Two lines in fore-stock molding
• Three lines in cheek piece mounding – not parallel – pointing to tail of lock
• Two molding lines on bottom of butt stock.
• Straight barrels
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Great notes summarizing several expert observations. Though the last line regarding straight barrels surprises me, I guess I would have thought that a flair at the breech would help widen this area for the characteristic oval profile.
Have others noted that is this really the most common barrel profile for these rifles?
Ken
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Great list. This sort of thing helps us newbies understand what we are looking at. Thanks.
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...trigger plate boat shaped, with the point aft'.
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Thank you for the information on the Lehigh longrifle characteristics, on a later post Mr. Currie has posted some fine pictures of a rifle that he is building.
I asked a few questions for help in my attempt to build a Lehigh fowler .
Any help from you would also be much appreciated.
Best regards.
Old Ford
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Not sure how pertinent the above characteristics are to a fowler. I do not have any knowledge about them other than the Grinslade book
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Gentlemen, The Kentucky Rifle Foundation has a 20 + gun CD featuring the Lehigh Valley guns displayed in the 2010 KRA presidents display which the Foundation put together at the 2010 annual KRA meeting. Might be of help to those attempting to recreate the Lehigh Valley rifle. Each gun on the CD has between 8-13 various high resolution pictures taken by a professional photographer. Check the KRA web site in the 'store' area for the ordering details. HIB
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Stunning photos on the CD! Worth every cent!