You may have read or heard that recently, Mr. Fields lost his Utah home and shop in a fire. It was disturbing to see a photo of his property in ashes. You can find links to newspaper articles about the fire. I am not writing this to talk about the fire, but about a marvelous rifle he made that is now in my possession. I am very fortunate to own this rifle!
I asked for more detail and history of the rifle on the net. This is what I have learned.
Neil Fields said that this is a special rifle. It has an original Mortimer lock in it, with a 7/8 x 36" .50 barrel and he finished it February 14, 1990. One individual said that it is a small Beck style. Not all agree. Another pointed out that the lock appears out of character for an otherwise, early Lancaster styled rifle. “I can't tell if the lock panels are otherwise accentuated, but would have expected to see beaver tails behind at the very least. The angle of the cheek piece and trigger guard also reflect Lancaster rather than Beck....subtle differences.”
I asked for a “dissection” of the rifle and parts. Several people were familiar with which resulted in several interpretations and exacting descriptions and this was one: “I think the gun was built around the lock. Being an original Mortimer English lock which is probably 1810 or later. It sparks like mad, has a rollered frizzen, very smooth internals. The rifle weighs in at just 6.5 lbs. Barrel has 8 lands and grooves.“
HW Mortimer was an “Armourer to the Queen” and he and his son Harvey Walklate Mortimer were London gunsmiths' between 1753 and 1819 with premises at Fleet Street (see page 187 of British Gunmakers London By Brown) .
And now, of course, some photos:
The lock
Ron
