AmericanLongRifles Forums
General discussion => Antique Gun Collecting => Topic started by: Frank Graves on September 03, 2025, 11:38:03 PM
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I have this tintype photograph of a young man holding a percussion long rifle. The diamond shaped side plate, I had assumed, was to patch a broken stock because of its large size and screws around the edges. But maybe that is not correct, and this feature was unique to a specific maker - I would appreciate any comments as I would really like to identify this rifle shown here.
The image came from a picker who found it in a house in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
(https://i.ibb.co/zTPcP5kW/tintype-kentucky-rifle-detail.jpg) (https://imgbb.com/)
(https://i.ibb.co/hJcr56yq/tintype-kentucky-rifle.jpg) (https://ibb.co/678GhMmd)
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I don't have any info on the rifle, but I love that photograph. Thanks for sharing.
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Rifle looks like a lefty.
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Tin types are reverse images so that is a right handed rifle. To me it looks like the barrel is turned for a false muzzle. .
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The tintype process produces a reversed image.
DGB
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Looks like Walnutred types faster than me!
DGB
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Ok... reverse image.
The young man is then holding the gun with his left hand. That left hand is his dominant hand as his knife/small pistol is under his right arm.
If he was left handed as the "easy access" knife/pistol shows.... why does he have a right handed gun?
I think the gun is a prop and not a real firearm.
Just my 2 cents..
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How many left-handed rifles are there? He may be lefty, but the image is still reversed. ::)
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If a wetplate is shot on tin or dark glass the image is a reverse, like in a mirror. If it's shot on clear glass to make a paper print, the print will be normal, not reversed.
I've shot a lot of wetplates, and used to teach workshops on how to do collodion.
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I said that it looked like a lefty. Reversed or not it still looks like a lefty to me.
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Think about it, think how the kid was actually holding the rifle.
When taking the picture, the kid was holding the rifle in his left hand with the side plate of the gun facing the camera. ;D
So it's a right handed rifle.
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Of course, I have the luxury of having the original image and a loupe in hand, so I can clear up a few things - the muzzle is slightly out of focus but the barrel is not cut for a false muzzle - that is the nose cap that we are seeing.
Regarding there being a knife or gun below the subject's right arm, that area is the space between his upper arm and torso with a part of the chair back behind showing through. There is nothing else there.
The rifle looks real and is a right-handed rifle because the tintype image is reversed. I have seen rifles that were photographers' props but those are obvious copies in my 50+ years of collecting armed images.
No one here has claimed to have seen a rifle with this large diamond shaped side plate, so it appears that this is a reinforcement for a break in this area that I have always mostly thought. If this rifle does show up someday, then it will certainly be the same gun (rarely seen) and I would be the logical prospect...
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What time period does the clothing and hairstyle indicate?
The backround looks like a studio backround. The hat on the floor looks like it might be too big for the young fellow. I don't see any handgun or knife. I am left handed, I shoot a pistol with my left hand and rifle with my right.
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The clothing and style of studio look like they'd be in the 1880s or later. Tintypes were used a long time, some boardwalk photographers would still do them in the 1930s. But mostly by about 1890 they were being replaced by glass negatives, then film.
Is there no photography studio stamp on the back? That can help date it. But the mat looks like late 1800s, vs mid. For example, this one is from about 1905:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/fostinum/54176398272/in/photostream/
I should have mentioned that my profile picture is a wetplate I had my wife take of myself. Holding a Gillespie rifle.
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Sorry I can't help your request but that rifle sure is alot of drop at heal.
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Frank,
I cannot help with an ID of this rifle, but it is a very nice image. The young man looks like he's a teenager. Also like his straw hat on the floor.
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Thanks Steve and everyone else for your time to comment on this image.
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Here's a close up of the image reversed. Definitely a right handed gun.
(https://i.ibb.co/LdSDq5q0/Screenshot-20250912-063223-Chrome.jpg) (https://ibb.co/d4Bs3g3f)
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What's the possibility that the rifle has a back action lock? They tend to not have any raised sideplate surround, and are somewhat prone to the stock breaking through the breach area. Both of those points would fit with this unusual repair.
Eric