Here in WV they are somewhat scarce due to coyotes. The coyotes have just about cleaned them out. I used to hunt them every summer till about 10 years ago. Now it is useless to go out looking for them.
Here are a few more pictures of this rifle. It is serial number 139. The barrel, lock and barrel wedges all carry this same number. The barrel wedges are also stamped front and back. The under rib, wedge lugs and the ram rod pipes are neatly soldered in place. The lock is well fit to barrel and stock and the lock mortise is very well done. The stock is a nice piece of maple with all metal parts well fit to the stock. All the metal parts have a brown finish with the only areas of showable wear being on the toe and heel of the butt plate. This is a very nice rifle with a good bore of 54 cal. You would be hard placed to find another at this price that has this much quality.
I had a friend , now deceased, who grew up in the early 1900's He loved to tell about when he was in third grade and walked to school carrying a 30-30 just in case he came across a wood chuck. When people still used horses, wood chuck holes would sometimes break a horse's leg and many town offered a bounty for each wood chuck nose brought to town hall. The school principle would give the boys a nickle for every wood chuck nose and old Wimer said that there was always a stack of rifles just inside most class room doors. The whole affair fell apart when the boys found out that the principal was passing the noses down at town hall for eight cents a piece.