AmericanLongRifles Forums
General discussion => Antique Gun Collecting => Topic started by: bones92 on January 07, 2017, 05:04:04 PM
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Were brass tacks ever used in adorning rifles, or is this a purely contemporary attempt at giving a rifle or musket a historical look?
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Bones92 there are several books that show tacked rifles an smoothbores. Mostly Native American have seen a few in museums. My copy of American guns shows a few. But there mostly 1850 an latter. Maybe the experts will chime in an clarify. Mike
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I leave history of use on firearms to the experts here.
The tacks used in the 19th Century were all brass, with a brass shank fastened into a brass head. White guys used them for decorating trunks, and leatherwork. A couple of years ago good replicas were available from a gentleman in the Czech Republic. Lukas Navratil, Potocka 26, 62300 Brno, Czech Republic.
An interesting site is indiani.cz
Think Tandy might have had some also.
Modern (since about 1890) tacks have a steel shank. One may drive them into wood better, without drilling a hole first. I believe that for leatherwork the all-brass would be preferable.