AmericanLongRifles Forums
General discussion => Antique Gun Collecting => Topic started by: sterling22193 on February 05, 2012, 07:26:41 AM
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I have what I guess would be considered a (relic) or curio. The brass work is identical with a piece I saw elsewhere on the web, and the barrel is marked "M.Smith" (note that the M and Smith are run together), without a place of mfg. I also read that he was one of the very few (if not the only) early gunmaker that used brass triggers - my gun is so furnished. This in about .36 cal, measuring 40 cal in the rifling. It appears to have been retrofitted to percussion, because of the "barrel" in which the nipple is fitted. The stock is "right" for the 1820 to 1850 era. The lock is also unmarked, which fits to that era also. I am not much of a photographer, but am willing to try should it be necessary.
One curious aspect is that there is no foresight blade, but a second "V" notch up front! Somebodies "cure" for vision problem?
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Gotta post some pics!!!
Bob
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There is pictures of a Martin Smith Fowler on the New England Exhibits on this site.
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Martin Smith was a maker of some renown, in Greenfield, Massachusetts. I have long believed that one of my local gunsmiths here, in Princeton, Illinois, had been apprenticed to Martin Smith. His name was Samuel D. Hinsdale. He arrived here from Greenfield, Massachusetts, in 1838. There is a Hinsdale rifle in the Library here on ALR.
Brass triggers seem to be a regional feature, more often seen in the northeast, especially New York. They are sometimes found on midwestern-made rifles, but generally on guns made by makers with northeastern roots.