Unique wrist inlay

[Shreckmeister]

The wrist inlay on this rifle appears to be purely decorative.  There is no crack extending from underneath
it anywhere.  Another rifle with this shape of wrist inlay is in the Jefferson County Longrifle book by Hariger.
That rifle was by a different maker than this one but clearly the work of the same gunsmith.
I believe that wrist inlay was a repair made by the maker of this rifle Wm Shreckengost.  Some similar wrist
inlay templates are among the other templates in the collection.  I thought it was interesting how every
perspective of the inlay creates a different artistic view ie from the triggerside, tangside and patchbox side.

[Buck]

Suzkat,
Beautiful Rifle!
Buck

[LURCHWV@BJS]

Not to crazy about half stocks,  but I like this one.

   Rich

[Dr. Tim-Boone]

Talk about gilding the Lily!!

[Shreckmeister]

Talk about gilding the Lily!!

For those of you not familiar with this idiom.

"Gilding the Lilly" 
 To adorn unnecessarily something already beautiful. The expression is a condensation of Shakespeare's metaphor in King John: "To gild refined gold, to paint the lily ... is wasteful and ridiculous excess." i.e., you wouldn't need to add gold to a beautiful lily."

[Majorjoel]

Suzkat, that is a nice brass rifle with a few wooden inlays . It is definately out of the ordinary!

[Shreckmeister]

Here is the story of this rifle as told to me by Davey from Uncle Davey's Americana in Jacksonville FL.
Davey acquired this rifle from a family that had it since the civil war.  The rifle had been on display in
the Columbia GA civil war museum on loan from this family for some time and bears the catalog number.
Until the last decade, this rifle was passed down through a family whose ancestor had a farm between
Macon and Atlanta GA.  The story is told that during the time surrounding Sherman's March to Atlanta, two
Union soldiers battled with the farmer/ancestor when he caught them stealing from his barn.  The farmer
was victor and buried the soldiers on his farm.  He took their rifles and hid them in the farmhouse.  They then
passed generation to generation until they came into the hands of the gentleman who sold the rifles to
Davey.  Davey said the man had no place to store the rifles and he was going to be travelling extensively and
was afraid they would disappear, so he decided to sell them.
     I wonder, was this rifle outfitted to have a steel ramrod because it was going to be used in battle?
Was the wrist inlay on an unbroken wrist intended to give strength since it would see hard service?  The
story raises some interesting questions!  It is after all, a story!

[Shreckmeister]

I don't know.  I read that there was a shortage of rifles at the start of the
C.W. and use of personal rifles was not uncommon, but that was Wikipedia.
I have not researched the subject.  I'm sure others on this forum have some
knowledge about this.  Wiki stated some numbers of what the Army had available
vs what was needed at the time. "When the American Civil War broke out in April 1861, neither the North (about 360,000 small arms) nor the South (about 240,000) had enough weapons to fight a major war.[1]:75 Stockpiles of rifles and handguns carried by individual soldiers were limited. As the war escalated those arms stockpiles were quickly diminished.[2] Soldiers were often forced to use older smooth bore and flintlock muskets, which had been considered to be obsolete, simply because the newer rifles were not available in sufficient quantities. Many soldiers were forced to use their own personal hunting rifles, which were typically Kentucky or Pennsylvania type rifles. These rifles, while more accurate than smoothbore muskets, had been designed for hunting, and fired less deadly smaller caliber ammunition." 
  They site "Civil War Firearms: Their Historical Background and Tactical Use" By Joseph G. Bilby " as reference.

[Paul E. Wog]

There used to be a Horace Fox " Target Rifle " on display at Gettysburg that was picked up from Little Round Top after the battle...that would be in the area of the PA 155th. Company K ( Zouave ) position, and the PA Bucktails.
Also, there are handed down tales in our area of the Company K boys marching off with " Old Shreck " in their hands...possibly this rifle is one of them
Just my 2d.
                            Shreck

[Dphariss]

The inlay could be purely decorative or it could cover some flaw or another in the wood not necessarily a crack.
The rifle appears to have had a "lollipop" tang sight.

Dan

[Tim Crosby]

  The old me and boys who defended Petersburg Virginia in 1864 at the first sighting of Union troops are said to have carried “antique muskets”, who knows what is meant by that.  It comes from a diary entry of a woman whose husband was killed in the battle, he was delivered back to his home in a wagon.
 As a side line: Confederate troops were brought in from North side of the Appomattox river by order of P.T.G Beauregard (Pierre Gustave Toutant ) and the day went to the South. This starting what turned out to be the longest siege on any city in American history.

 Tim C.

[Fred]

While not proof, my uncle had our great something or others half stock rifle that he carried in the civil war, he was a forager. I will have to say the rifle had the appearance of having gone through a war.

[smokinbuck]

I know that anything is possible but I don't think this rifle ever saw, and certainly was not intended to see any, war time action. At some time or another there were undoubtedly all types of weapons pressed into action but this one looks like it missed the call. I think you just have a very artistic example of the period. I have seen this type of wrist inlay on other rifles which, we feel, were for the decorative aspect and/or to strengthen the wrist area, maybe both. With age all things tend to grow, memories among them. It is a very nice rifle.
Mark