Bear with me..this might be a long post. I was interested by JV Puleo's post about the possibility of the Mason being a a later gun built around an earlier barrel. So, I took a closer look at the gun with "fresh eyes". I note the following: The barrel ahead of the breech plug shows noticeable pitting from age. The adjoining breech plug shows far less. There is an engraved pattern on the barrel on either side of the signature. On close examination, it appears that this engraving is cut off slightly where the barrel joins the breech plug, indicating that the breech was shortened slightly to accommodate a new plug. Those facts lead me to believe that JV Puleo is correct in his assumption that this is a gun made by a different maker, utilizing an older J. Mason barrel. Now for the interesting part. I have another gun..a 17 ga. SxS percussion shotgun by Luke Wheelock of Worcester Mass. This is an incredible piece. In perfect condition, it has browned damascus barrels by Leopold of Paris, dated 1846. The stock is intensely figured walnut, the butt plate, trigger guard, lock plates, and ramrod pipe are all of coin silver. The pins on the lock are bushed to allow use of steel pins in the softer silver plates. I inherited the Wheelock gun about five years ago, the Mason just three days ago, both from the same family provenance, original owner George Flagg of Worcester Mass, ca. 1850. I have never seen the two guns side by side until, due to JV Puleos post, a bell went off when I was examining the Mason. I went to the safe and got the Wheelock..and was stunned. The hammers are virtually identical. The stock architecture is identical. The finials on the tang and trigger guard are identical. The fences on the breech plugs are incredibly alike. I feel it virtually certain that both those guns were in fact made by Luke Wheelock in Worcester, Mass, about 1850. There is a good probability that My Great great grandfather George Flagg was a friend, associate, or benefactor of Luke Wheelock's, and purchased both guns from him. While it is disappointing that the Mason is not a Mason, I am thrilled to recognize the connection between these two guns, which have been separated for over 60 years. By chance, they were both passed on to me from different members of the same family, and it never occur to me that they could be by the same maker. While I cannot prove this, if you saw the two together you would agree. Thanks to JV Puleo for planting the seed ended with this discovery. Now I need to further my research into Luke Wheelock. I do know that he later became involved in the the design and manufacture of the Spencer repeating rifle. Thanks to all for your posts and your interest!
Elee
