old southern gunmaking link question

[T.C.Albert]

THere used to be a muzzle blasts link (?) that led to images of the Ownsby family (?) making southern longrifles back in the 1930s or so...they were freshing barrels...stocking guns etc...my questions are...
1. what ever happened to that link and is it still live...
2. did they forge their own barrels too?

TCA

[timM]

TCA,
I can't answer your two questions, but if your interest is the photographs of Matt and Mary Owenby they can be found in Rice Irwin's book “Guns and Gunmaking Tools of Southern Appalachia”  These  photographs are credited to The Great Smokey Mountain National Park.  Total of 6 photographs.  tim,

[Mark Elliott]

Tim,

I thought I knew the pictures to which you were referring.   So, I did some checking.   I have a printed copy of the original source of the pictures used by John Rice Allen.   It is  the National Park Service Popular Study Series booklet #13; Rifle Making in the Great Smoky Mountains by Arthur I. Kendall M.D..    A link to the publication online is as follows:
http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/popular/13/index.htm   There are other titles that may be of interest.   The link to all the Popular Study Series booklets is as follows: http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/popular/index.htm

Have fun reading!

Mark E.

[Mark Elliott]

Tim,

I didn't answer all your questions.   About the Owensby's forging their own barrels,  I don't know from the text whether they did or not since they were never mentioned by name.   Only their pictures where shown to demonstrate the steps used at that time in the Smokeys to build a muzzle loading rifle.   The implication was that someone in the area was making barrels since the author described three methods for hand forging barrels.   

Mark E.