William Gardner Half Stock Pill Lock Rifle

[Frank Graves]

Here are some pictures of a W. Gardner Pill Lock Half Stock Rifle that I recently found.  The barrel and lock are both marked.  The caliber is .31 with a 36-3/8” barrel.  Overall length of the rifle is 53”.  I believe it to be unfired.  The fit and detailing is remarkable.  It has double cheek rests and an original threaded iron tipped ramrod.  As the pill lock system seems to have fallen out of favor fairly quickly it doesn’t seem as if it could have been made after the 1840s.  This seems to be verified as the barrel is marked underneath: “P&S Remington” which dates it to a short time in the mid-1840s when barrels were made with this marking.  Overall, this rifle shows extreme quality of the maker with understated elegance.  The walnut stock has some burl at the butt and the inlays are silver with brass triggerguard and buttplate.  The barrel is browned and the tang and lockplate casehardened.  I understand that most of these pill lock rifles by William Gardner were fullstocks.

I know there is information on the maker in the Swinney/Rowe New York makers books, but if anyone knows of anything else, I’d sure like to hear about it and I hope this is of interest to others.

[Majorjoel]

Hi Frank,  I once owned a nearly identical walnut fullstock mule ear rifle made by W. Gardner in Geneva NY. It was a standard percussion side lock in 45 caliber. It also had twin cheek pieces with a lot of brass inlays of hearts and diamonds.  In my research on Gardner, I discovered that he was the son in law of William Antes the famous Moravian PA gunsmith. Antes is said to have trained Gardner in the art of gunmaking.  I cannot seem to access the old ALR board, but I made a post there some years ago with pictures of my Gardner rifle. I think it was titled "Geneva" or something similar.   Frank, your halfstock is a real fine piece and in great condition!  Thank you for showing it to us.       

[Majorjoel]

     

[Dphariss]

Frank you certainly found a dandy.
Gardner was obviously a master.
Thanks for posting the photos.
Dan

[Mike Brooks]

That gun looks brand new, it couldn't have been used much.

[Algae]

Nice find!!!
Al J.

[Avlrc]

Wow, talk about condition. Looks like it was made a couple years ago.

[Steve Collward]

Frank:
 Thanks for sharing photos of your William Gardner rifle. Attached are some photos of two full stock Wm. Gardner rifles. As you can see, both have mule ear locks which Gardner appears to have favored. The top rifle started life as a pill lock but was later converted for use with  percussion caps. It has a 34 1/2" barrel and is a .32 cal.  The bottom rifle is a .48 cal. with a 38 1/4" barrel.
  There certainly are similarities in the stock style and design of your gun, and the example Majorjoel provided and the two I have listed.
  A couple of years ago I was able to find copies of his obituary.  He was born in Canandaigua, NY on Sept. 25, 1793 and died Feb. 23, 1882. He moved to Geneva, NY in 1815, was married in 1817 and resided on Pulteney  St.  The obituary also states that about 18 years prior to his death (1864) he went blind, which of course, ended his career.  
  I also located a notice Gardner submitted to the Geneva Gazette, June 14, 1837 in which burglars broke into Gardner's gun shop stealing "... an old double-barrel gun, one old rifle, one new rifle barrel ... a quantity of gun-smith tools.."
  The NYS Firearm Trade, Vol. 2, (Swinney/Rowe) have other examples of Gardner's work.

[Frank Graves]

I appreciate the kind comments and information given here.  This site is wonderful for this sort of thing. 

Here is an image of the lockplate that should have been included earlier.  The marking, obscured by the hammer is: "W. Gardner/Patent/Geneva".  I have been told that there was some patent by Gardner that may have something to do with the internal mechanism.  I have tried to locate any patent registered by Gardner but have not been able to so far.

[Steve Collward]

Frank:
 Below are a few more photos of a Gardner 1/2 stock.  Barrel is 31 1/2"long, however, I think it had been shortened at the breech at some point. Caliber is .42.  As with the other mule ears, the lock is marked "W Gardner/Patent/Geneva".
Note the toe plate is very similar to yours.   If you would like copies of his obituary, send me an email and I'll send out.

[Dphariss]

That gun looks brand new, it couldn't have been used much.

If taken care of it takes time to inflict a lot of wear on a rifle.
Considering its a pill lock and was used in the east it would not see the wear a rifle carried to the Three Forks of the Missouri in 1840.

Dan