AmericanLongRifles Forums
General discussion => Antique Gun Collecting => Topic started by: Shreckmeister on April 28, 2024, 08:36:51 PM
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(https://i.ibb.co/8x29WPp/IMG-5029.jpg) (https://ibb.co/HPYqWGs)
(https://i.ibb.co/fHm5rqF/IMG-5035.jpg) (https://ibb.co/1TH5R7Q)
(https://i.ibb.co/kxbK3sN/IMG-5032.jpg) (https://ibb.co/L8jSQXV)
(https://i.ibb.co/s5mLYhw/IMG-5034.jpg) (https://ibb.co/4smBrcT)
(https://i.ibb.co/c6Fv5Yx/IMG-5031.jpg) (https://ibb.co/wSWLHcY)
(https://i.ibb.co/TWF7KwM/IMG-5030.jpg) (https://ibb.co/0sd6Bny)
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A little rubbin' and she'll be good as new!
Do you think a full stock originally?
Nice find!
John
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Congratulation's on a successful hunt. Its a great feeling to find a gun you have looked for years.
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It looks like it was a full-stock rifle originally by the short run of forestock molding ahead of the rear pipe that runs out to the nose cap. Doubt it would be there unless it was a full-stocked gun originally.
Shelby Gallien
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Rob, is that a CAST iron trigger guard? When did they start making those?
Bill Paton
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Good for you! It's a great feeling to find one you've been searching for so long.
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I think it was originally a full stock but the under rib has me questioning it. The trigger guard is brass
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Anyone recognize the lock? I don’t
(https://i.ibb.co/hRnfxsF/image.jpg) (https://ibb.co/99ftmnH)
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Not trying to burst your bubble. Do you think it could be a George Baker (1762-1844) of Morgantown? Your side plate is very near the same as the one pictured in "Long Rifles of Virginia"
Whiskers & Butler. Other features of your rifle are close to George's work. George had connections to the Lancaster area early in his life.
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Not trying to burst your bubble. Do you think it could be a George Baker (1762-1844) of Morgantown? Your side plate is very near the same as the one pictured in "Long Rifles of Virginia"
Whiskers & Butler. Other features of your rifle are close to George's work. George had connections to the Lancaster area early in his life.
Homerifle, You might be right. Is the George Baker in Whiskers' book the same Baker who was on display at Fort Prickett a few years back? Van has some great photos of that Baker rifle.
(https://i.ibb.co/DCbhj2R/Scan-20240429.png) (https://ibb.co/6PZzqCW)
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The picture you posted of the Baker gun; I believe is the same one that Van had in the display you mentioned.
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Thank you. Better to know the true maker.
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Info on George Baker. Is this the man?
(https://i.ibb.co/P6QgC9r/IMG-5047.png) (https://ibb.co/JsQHkyc)
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That is the right info for George Baker.
VP
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The KRF's flash drive featuring West Virginia rifles has a signed George Baker on it. It compares very closely to your rifle. I would bet yours is a Baker like Homerifle said.
VP
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The KRF's flash drive featuring West Virginia rifles has a signed George Baker on it. It compares very closely to your rifle. I would bet yours is a Baker like Homerifle said.
VP
Thanks Van for your input.
homerifle
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Thank you to John and Van for their help with identification. At first I was happy to have what I thought was a local gun, now having a rifle that
was built by the hands of a Rev War soldier is something that provokes thought. So George C. Baker made contract rifles for the government?
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These "similar signature" type rifles always make me chuckle a little. How do we really know the rifles in Whisker's book and the KRA library are by George Baker, and not actually by Griffith Baker? A first initial and last name is really an attribution until more substantial proof is offered. Jim Whisker, when photographing, accepted whatever the gun owner told him about the maker, and I'm guessing the KRA rifle is also based on the owner's attribution, without substantial proof offered. We jump to conclusions at times, based on what we think a gun is.... kind of like the comment last week that a "collector sees what he wants to see."
When I look at this rifle, the shape of the guard's rail seems to be somewhat similar to the Sheets rifles' rails, and they were in WV, so the attribution may well be correct. But nothing is offered to substantiate the attribution. Is the stock architecture or side plate shape and engraving related to WV rifles of the period, etc.? It's not my area of focus, and the attributions may well be correct, but I'm always a little wary of fast attributions to the "most obvious" maker when nothing is offered to support the attribution other than an owner's opinion, when another gunsmith with the same initial and last name, but no known gun, is lurking out there.
Shelby Gallien
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Shelby,
You are correct in your assumptions about the G. initial. We make our attributions sometimes on less information than we did on this rifle. You can make the comparison to a J. P. Beck rifle, not having ever seen one signed John Beck. We are inclined to go with what little information we have and hopefully with enough comparisons we can start to gain some confidence in our attributions, like with J. P Beck. Here is the signature of the supposed George Baker rifle that is on the KRF flash drive.
(https://i.ibb.co/S5BgqXC/2-George-Baker-Detail-of-Signature.jpg) (https://ibb.co/gmJ8sMK)
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A little rubbin' and she'll be good as new!
Do you think a full stock originally?
Nice find!
John
Little rubbin. Not too much. Brasso on a rag. Johnsons paste wax cleaned and brought out the curl in the stock. It was filthy.
(https://i.ibb.co/yP7HBdf/IMG-5118.jpg) (https://ibb.co/V95fpJj)
(https://i.ibb.co/cJR27BG/IMG-5119.jpg) (https://ibb.co/wy8pxk9)