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General discussion => Antique Gun Collecting => Topic started by: Dennis Glazener on February 19, 2018, 07:34:12 PM

Title: Looking for information on this rifle **Added four new Photos**
Post by: Dennis Glazener on February 19, 2018, 07:34:12 PM

A gentleman contacted me hoping to gain information on this rifle. He said it belonged to his deceased father and that his father had owned it for around 50 years. He has some round balls with it and they are marked .475" diameter. A couple of flasks and an extra ram rod are with the rifle. Note the back action lock is marked "Mills Harrodsburg KY".

I have seen this style stock before but for the life of me I can not remember where.

Dennis

(https://image.ibb.co/koSn37/Photo_1.jpg) (https://imgbb.com/)

(https://image.ibb.co/jcSWVn/Photo_2.jpg) (https://ibb.co/mKVkqn)

(https://image.ibb.co/gbaSLn/Photo_4.jpg) (https://ibb.co/kqDE0n)

(https://image.ibb.co/hbYsmS/Photo_8.jpg) (https://ibb.co/mzubD7)


(https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimage.ibb.co%2FdkHddH%2FPhoto_10.jpg&hash=ae8210c37f095c21555e4584fa3e39cbda58923a) (http://ibb.co/nt70sc)

(https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimage.ibb.co%2Fb4Cpkx%2FPhoto_9.jpg&hash=09ca3f50d8fa9b3db5b61e181d87a9aef48cc359) (http://ibb.co/dsDJdH)

Title: Re: Looking for information on this rifle
Post by: Ky-Flinter on February 19, 2018, 07:54:52 PM

Dennis,

The rifle was likely made by Benjamin Mills or in his shop.  He made his own locks and he was known for the "saw handled" stock on both rifles and pistols.  There was a display of Mills guns at the CLA show, last year (?).  Well, some year!

I found the following on a genealogy website...  Do you suppose the info is from Mr. Galien? ;)

This information was forwarded to me by a gentelman putting together a book on Kentucky Gunsmiths. Hope it helps...
******************
His guns are strongly influenced by the early years he spent in Canada, where the English influence and "saw handled" rifle tang style were used. I'll provide a brief overview of his background. All his stocks are fancy figured walnut, usually with a crotch grain, often called a "feather grain" from the fine feathered figuring created deep in a walnut trunk where a limb (or root) first starts to form. He was noted as a superb mechanic, and as you can probably tell, his locks and triggers are finely made, usually as crisp today as when made.

His working period can be described as follows. Mills was born in New York in 1810, and probably learned the gunsmiths trade from his father, thought to be F. M. Mills of New York and later North Carolina. He became a journeyman around 1831, and soon after moved to Toronto, Canada where he worked for several years, and got married. At least one Canadian rifle is known marked "B. Mills." It's a fullstock, and not yet developed into the later saw handled target rifle style so well known later in Kentucky. Mills then returned to Mason County, Kentucky, where he is listed in tax records in 1839 and 1850 Mercer County census data. In 1841 he moved on to Stanford in Lincoln County, KY. Several rifles are known from Stanford, in the saw handle target rifle style similar to your rifle's stock style. In 1842 he moved to Harrodsburg in Mercer County, KY. By 1842 Mills was so well known for quality rifles that Kit Carson purchased several rifles from his shop in February of 1842, for the subsequent Fremont Expedition to the Rockies. Mills made many fine rifles in the 1840's and developed a reputation well beyond Kentucky. The 1850's were the peak years for gentlemen's target shooting clubs and matches in Kentucky, and Mills made many of the rifles used. His guns were claimed to be of equal quality to the more famous Manton rifles of England or Wesson and James rifles of Massachutes and New York, respectively, In the 1850's Mills' gun shop was large by all standards, employing 8 to 10 journeymen. His guns were shipped all over the United States, as evidenced by surviving shipping cases. In 1858 Benjamin Mills was appointed Master Armourer at Harpers Ferry, He was there when the radical John Brown led an attack on the arsenal and was captured by Lt. Col. Robert E. Lee in October of 1859. In 1860 Mills was back in Harrodsburg in Mercer Co., Kentucky.

Title: Re: Looking for information on this rifle
Post by: Howard on February 19, 2018, 11:15:17 PM

I repaired one last year that this same  maker  but it was a 3 barrel gun.   Louie Parker made a copy of a Mills pistol to make a pair some years back.  Mills had a mind of his own. Never followed the trend or fashion.

Title: Re: Looking for information on this rifle
Post by: Ky-Flinter on February 20, 2018, 01:09:04 AM

Howard,

I believe I saw that pair of pistols at the CLA show a few years back.  I couldn't tell them apart.

-Ron

Title: Re: Looking for information on this rifle
Post by: Sequatchie Rifle on February 20, 2018, 01:09:40 AM

I have a set of molds with his stamped name on them.

Title: Re: Looking for information on this rifle **Added two new Photos**
Post by: Tanselman on February 20, 2018, 02:50:42 AM

This nice Benjamin Mills rifle is interesting because it is from his later production when he became financially troubled. The demand for bench-made rifles fell off precipitously in Kentucky after the Civil War, and Mills began to struggle financially as his sales dropped. In the 1867-1869 years he was plagued by law suites for unpaid bills and loans. He was able to survive during that time, but by 1871 moved with his gunsmith son Charles to Lexington (a larger, more active market) to work, and remained there until 1883 when he returned to Harrodsburg, struggled financially again, and died in 1888.

While Mills' stock architecture changed little over his lifetime, subtle changes took place in his work. The pictured Mills rifle has several late Mills features including the rather plain, straight grained walnut stock. During his better years he normally used fancy walnut stock wood with feather grain in the butt, probably as a sales feature to promote the superiority of his rifles. The illustrated rifle also has a very late Mills guard, with its double spurs. His "trademark" iron guards on earlier rifles had a reverse loop in the rear, almost like a Hawken rifle, and no other spurs. The sights also appear to be late, open-type sights which appear later in his career. This rifle probably dates to the Civil War, perhaps about 1870 or shortly before he moved to Lexington. Shelby Gallien