In an earlier post, Mark Elliott mentioned the Virginia Manufactory of Arms established by the Commonwealth of VA.
In Virginia, you had independent gunsmiths making contract rifles for state issue to local militia from the Revolutionary War until the early 19th century when the Virginia Manufactory of Arms was established by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Most of these militia weapons were retrofitted to percussion with the start of the Civil War.
About 5 miles from where I live, in Powhatan County VA, was one of these independent shops that produced arms prior to 1819. According to James Whisker's Gunsmith's & Allied Tradesmen of VA there were at least 3 gunsmiths running a Manufactory of Arms on Fine Creek which is a creek that runs into the James river about 20 miles west of Richmond VA. The three men he mentions are Branch T. and William Archer along with Zachariah Brooks. He also records that they sold this operation to Alexander McRae in 1819.
I looked up the dates for VA Manufactory of Arms in Richmond and it appears they started in 1798. My question is where would these three men be selling the guns produced at the Fine Creek operation? This area was settled by French Huguenots and they were farmers, not enough people to support a large gun making operaton. It appears to me that for these men to have made money on the Fine Creek operation they would have to have been producing contract arms for the state of VA. Would it be likely that they would be doing contract work for the VA Manufactory of Arms in Richmond? Fine Creek is located about 1/4 mile from where the creek runs into the James River and is about 20-22 miles up the James River from Richmond. I might also mention that at one time there was a large grist mill operating at this location and it would have been an ideal location for water power to run machinery for a large gun making business.
Dennis
