AmericanLongRifles Forums
General discussion => Contemporary Longrifle Collecting => Topic started by: Daniel Coats on May 21, 2022, 05:09:25 PM
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Pictures of another stunning example of Hershel's work. I got it yesterday at the Collectors show in Colorado Springs Colorado. There was one table with high end Contemporary rifles but didn't think to take more pictures. The owner was able to tell me when and where he got the one I bought and had owned it almost 30 years. It was probably made in the mid 1980s. Let me know what you think of it!
Hershel House flintlock rifle not sure what kind of curly wood. Bill Large swamped barrel 39 1/8 long and .965 x .805 x .900 .40 caliber. 13 5/8 pull butt plate about 4 3/4 x 2/1/8 wide. Rifle weighs 8 pounds 8 ounces and handles beautifully.
(https://i.ibb.co/frvj1WN/PXL-20220521-134117078.jpg) (https://ibb.co/SVrFsgm)
(https://i.ibb.co/5s2X82X/PXL-20220521-134022960.jpg) (https://ibb.co/F8nkwnk)
(https://i.ibb.co/3fYZkwk/PXL-20220521-133542785.jpg) (https://ibb.co/M8509b9)
(https://i.ibb.co/2MRRcPh/PXL-20220521-133324694-MP.jpg) (https://ibb.co/s1ccsQR)
(https://i.ibb.co/sQmFZqG/PXL-20220521-133212104.jpg) (https://ibb.co/ft1CsH5)
(https://i.ibb.co/3zwmqHc/PXL-20220521-133124552-MP.jpg) (https://ibb.co/wsThX14)
(https://i.ibb.co/NVQ9VxM/PXL-20220521-132935579.jpg) (https://ibb.co/Tvp4vcs)
(https://i.ibb.co/Dp9vKJ5/PXL-20220521-132900774-MP.jpg) (https://ibb.co/bJsCd0z)
(https://i.ibb.co/t4sWfZW/PXL-20220521-132821513.jpg) (https://ibb.co/MsV3T83)
(https://i.ibb.co/xs6wgqH/PXL-20220521-132651695.jpg) (https://ibb.co/n0j41MC)
(https://i.ibb.co/prJPLbv/PXL-20220521-132609242.jpg) (https://ibb.co/1J8nm7f)
(https://i.ibb.co/4S8nFxD/PXL-20220521-132520745-MP.jpg) (https://ibb.co/my9VR7Y)
(https://i.ibb.co/mhM9vbT/PXL-20220521-132431076.jpg) (https://ibb.co/bN8sHQm)
(https://i.ibb.co/bHccfG4/PXL-20220521-132351981.jpg) (https://ibb.co/8z11hQy)
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Looks to me like Christmas came early this year! Nice find Dan!
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Wow! What a treasure, love everything about it
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I’ll bet it’s got “that feel” to it too. Herschel guns have a “feel” all their own.
Congratulations
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Hershel's guns always look so "Handleable"! a lovely rifle. One that would be hard to put down!
Congrats!! I love his worn finish. it adds an air of mystery somehow.
A magic gun to me, this one.
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Classic.
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Yes sir!
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What a find. You sir have a rifle to cherish.
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What a wonderful find. Thanks for sharing with us.
Bob
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Oh boyyy that’s a treasure. Congratulations!
I noticed it looks like the thumb piece looks to be surface mounted?
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Oh boyyy that’s a treasure. Congratulations!
I noticed it looks like the thumb piece looks to be surface mounted?
Yep both my Hershel guns were done that way.
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I have a friend who has 6 Hershel House rifles and a couple Frank House Rifles. I have handled all of them and nothing feels as good as handling a House rifle. He has 3-4 Breenen rifles along with 2 Guzzler Rifles. I can't afford the high end rifles but lucky to live so close to someone who does.
You got a nice Rifle for sure.
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I doubt they are surface mounted. I think it's probably about half way inlet. This is fairly typical of Hershel's. I find this to be a neat detail.
Jim
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Thanks Jim I bet you're right.
What kind of wood are we looking at here? It's definitely curly but seems more like walnut than maple. I get the sun in my eyes with excitement every time I pick it up... ;D
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American black alnut with some stump cut burl in it.
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Thanks for the confirmation Mike, it just has way more curl than I'm used to seeing. American black walnut is believable to me.
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Any ideas on dating the rifle?
My best guess is mid 1980s but could have been earlier or a bit later. The previous owner got the gun from Monte Mandarino in 1993. The Bill Large stamp isn't completely reliable for dating either and I checked the inside of the lock plate but no markings there. The lock inlet is the best I've ever seen and snaps into place. I'm not curious enough to pull the barrel and check for markings as the last thing I want to do is take a chip out of that curly walnut.
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Congratulations on the new addition. really nice rifle and keepsake.
Ken
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I'd guess 1980-85. He built a lot of that style in that time period.
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Nice....Really nice!
Hershel has a Facebook group (Hershel House Long Rifles and such) and is quite active there. He could probably tell you more about that rifle.
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I know about that. I’m sure that someone is replying there, but I’ve known Herschel for about 40 years and I just can’t see him staring at a computer monitor, tablet or a smart phone.
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I know about that. I’m sure that someone is replying there, but I’ve known Herschel for about 40 years and I just can’t see him staring at a computer monitor, tablet or a smart phone.
Having known him about that long I had the same impression when the FB appearances started...but you never know :o
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Congrats!!
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Beautiful rifle.
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Cool! Great Find, congrats!
Curtis
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Absolutely wonderful find. Classic House in every way. Timeless. Legendary.
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Beautiful long rifle for sure.I doubt if many made before 1900 were anywhere close to this level of quality.
In all the time I made locks there were few if any of the better builders that wanted them but that was and is
OK and now they're not available.I never talked to either of the House brothers but some of the others said
my price to make them was too much and that supported my opinion that the lock must be the cheapest part
of the gun.After 1978 most of what I made went to Germany and percussion Schuetzen locks replaced the Hawken
types for a long time.I resurrected what few German language skills I had left and that was helpful and most of
them spoke at least some English.I quit locks in August of 2019 but last year I made what I called a utility grade one for
a man here in Huntington and it was a good representation of the cap lock on the Petersen Hawken shown in Bob Woodfill's
Hawken Rifle book.The only reason I agreed to make it was because I had a plate that was right for this job.The mechanism
was low end** with a single position tumbler and the bridle with one screw and a close fit pin and blue springs.The man that
got this collects my work and has quite a selection of common and one of a kind like this one and after this odd lock I made a
pre 1849 trigger with an antique guard I bought at Friendship for $10.I wish I had a lot of these guard.
Forgive my rambling,a HOT shower has relaxed me and I cooked myself.
Bob Roller
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Low end to me means no attention to the fine details as as seen in some English locks.
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Thanks let's try to keep the comments about this particular rifle. PM me if you want to talk about other topics or start another thread please ;D
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Herschel does indeed have a web site. Plus he does respond to questions. It's good site.. Oldtravler
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Herschel does indeed have a web site. Plus he does respond to questions. It's good site.. Oldtravler
Thanks Mike maybe I'll try that. I've not had good luck using other methods over the years.
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ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS HH WOODBURY MASTERPIECE! 😉 CONGRATULATIONS!!
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Sometimes when I see certain things that bring up memories associated with the activities associated with this particular forum.
I met both E.M.Farris and Bill Large on the same day in 1953 and that got me started down the road I am now nearly retired from.
FEW on this or any other forum can make this claim.Both men I just named were founding members of the NMLRA.One benefactor
Bill mentioned was Powel Crosley Jr. maker of Crosley radios and later a tiny car that was truly SUB compact.Crosley himself drove
a Duesenberg that cost $16,000 in 1934 ;D. The acquisition of the property in Southern Indiana was a real help to establish a place
for "National"shooting matches and the later purchase of 204 acres and the old house that now is the NMLRA headquarters was a
real benefit.The commercial row area to me looks like a disaster area but the area is prone to frequent floods and nothing can be done
about that in that particular area.
E.M.Farris was the one who got me started in making locks and triggers long with We Kindig who owned the Log Cabin Shop were the two
that bought these items from me when they,in reality would barely rise to the level of junk.The lock making skills of the British gunmakers was and still is a fascination to me and thanks to Lynton McKenzie who would loan anything he had to me for study and try to copy I think I
came about as close as anyone to that level and applied it to common locks.I am both honored and surprised at some of the prices being paid for some of my later work in lock making. The simple triggers I now make are all i care to do and for the first 4 months of this current year made and sold only 2 Hawken triggers.
Gotta go,my Dachshund says "I got to GO".
Bob Roller
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Congrats on your SUPER find! Hershel House is auctioning one of his real big knives right now on his facebook site, that would go along great with your rifle.
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Here's the rifle and knife from about the same time period. Note the makers stamp on both.
(https://i.ibb.co/KW1vy76/PXL-20220523-150025838-MP.jpg) (https://ibb.co/WfTJKFn)
I've had the knife a lot longer than the rifle but they're a matched pair from now on.
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:very nice
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Dan
Looked at that rifle, lots of nice rifles there.
Sunday a Don King full stock Hawken style rifle showed up on a table.
Sorry I missed you,
Carney
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Dan
Looked at that rifle, lots of nice rifles there.
Sunday a Don King full stock Hawken style rifle showed up on a table.
Sorry I missed you,
Carney
Thanks Carney I was only there for a few hours on Friday. I stopped by your table a few times but you were either busy or away. Palmer Divide was snowing by 2:30 with a tough forecast ahead. Hope to catch up next time.
Other rifles I noticed by Mark Silver, Jim Kibler, Homer Dangler, Jack Haugh, and more.
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That’s the Classic Hershel if there ever was one.
Congratulations, I’m very envious. :D
Jeff
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Very nice! I think that's actually the first Herschel House rifle I've seen in photos. I love the way he carved his name on the barrel.