Plains Rifle books

[Dale Halterman]

I have had in in my mind to build a plains rifle for several years now, and I recently picked up a 1 1/8" x 36" barrel in trade so it looks like it is time.

So I need to do some research first. Can anyone recommend some good books to start with?

Thanks

Dale H

[alyce-james]

Good evening Dale H. Here are three books to start with, I used for my first plains rifle project.

1) "THE HAWKEN RIFLE: ITS PLACE IN HISTORY", by Charles E. Hanson Jr. 2) "FIFTEEN YEARS IN THE HAWKEN LODE", BY John D. Baird. 3) "HAWKEN RIFLE" The Mountain Mans Choice. by John D. Baird.  Good reading, have a great evening. AJ.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Jim Gordon's volume three of "Guns of the American West" has lots of great images of plains rifles, by Hawken boys as well as a host of other St. Louis makers.   great reading and first class reference material.

[Dale Halterman]

Thanks for the replies, guys.

I am not neccesarily looking the build a Hawken. Do those books cover other rifles as well, AJ?

Taylor, "Guns of the American West" is a bit pricey, unless I am looking at the wrong one.

Do either of you know anything about "Plains Rifles" by Hansen?

Thanks again

Dale H

[Bob Roller]

Dale,
We have in our Huntington WV Museum of Art a very simple Half stock with a heavy barrel.
In 1959 I made up a decent representation of it with a 1-1/8x33" barrel of 58 caliber by
Bill Large.I stocked it with black walnut and silver butt plate and trigger guard,made my own lock
and single set trigger. It was an easy build and the original is marked Henry.

Bob Roller

[alyce-james]

Good morning Dale H. The answer to your question is no. PS. The Texas Gun Trade 1780-1899 by Chris Hirsch. This book will show you a varied (Half & full stocked)  selection of rifle styles used on the plains.  Have a great week end. AJ.

[Dale Halterman]

Bob, are there any pictures of the original or your copy available? I tried the museum's website but couldn't find anything.

AJ, thanks. I will try to find Hirsch's book.

Dale H

[RichG]

Hansens; the plains rifle, has a few photos and not all Hawken. The pictures aren't all that great. 

[Bob Roller]

Bob, are there any pictures of the original or your copy available? I tried the museum's website but couldn't find anything.

AJ, thanks. I will try to find Hirsch's book.

Dale H

Dale,
as far as I know there are no pictures of this rifle I made.It was,like the original a very simple half stock
with heave barrel,drum and nipple and hand made sights.It was very accurate and I later,at a gun show in Dodge City
Kansas found and bought a Malcolm telescope sight that went nearly full length of the barrel and then I found out
just how accurate it really was. Cloverleaf 5 shot groups at 150 yards with a tight .575 ball and 75 grains of DuPont 3fg.

Bob Roller

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Jim Gordon's three volume set cost me $300 USD.  I suspect he would sell you just vol. III.  You will find it to be more than worth every nickel.

[Mtn Meek]

Thanks for the replies, guys.

Taylor, "Guns of the American West" is a bit pricey, unless I am looking at the wrong one.

Do either of you know anything about "Plains Rifles" by Hansen?

Thanks again

Dale H

Dale, it's understandable if the $300 for Gordon's Great Gunmakers for the Early West is more than you want to spend.

Hanson's The Plains Rifle is a good reference book, even though it was first published in 1960 and is a bit dated.  It is the only book dedicated to the subject of interest.

If you just want some pictures to help guide you in your build, that's where the internet comes in real handy.  Just Google these names followed by "rifle" and you should see a few links about the individuals and some images of a few of their rifles.

You might try different combinations of the name--whole name, first initial and last name, last name only--such as:

                      "Renaud Beauvais rifle",  "R Beauvais rifle",  "Beauvais rifle"

Renaud Beauvais

T. J. Albright

Tristram Campbell

Christian Hoffman

John Phillip Gemmer

Horace E. Dimick

Henry Folsom

Meyer Friede

Frederick W. Hellinghaus

John P. Sites

Stephen O’Dell

James Henry or J. Henry & Son

Henry E. Leman

George & Edward K. Tryon


The half stock rifle came into its own with the plains rifle, but some plainsmen still preferred full stock rifles.  The barrels were shorter than longrifles for use on horseback.

Here is a picture of a J. Henry & Son half stock trade rifle that might be similar to the rifle that Bob Roller copied.  These rifles would have been very common on the plains in the 1860's and 1870's with both Indians and plainsmen.

[Bob Roller]

Thanks for the replies, guys.

Taylor, "Guns of the American West" is a bit pricey, unless I am looking at the wrong one.

Do either of you know anything about "Plains Rifles" by Hansen?

Thanks again

Dale H


Dale, it's understandable if the $300 for Gordon's Great Gunmakers for the Early West is more than you want to spend.

Hanson's The Plains Rifle is a good reference book, even though it was first published in 1960 and is a bit dated.  It is the only book dedicated to the subject of interest.

If you just want some pictures to help guide you in your build, that's where the internet comes in real handy.  Just Google these names followed by "rifle" and you should see a few links about the individuals and some images of a few of their rifles.

You might try different combinations of the name--whole name, first initial and last name, last name only--such as:

                      "Renaud Beauvais rifle",  "R Beauvais rifle",  "Beauvais rifle"

Renaud Beauvais

T. J. Albright

Tristram Campbell

Christian Hoffman

John Phillip Gemmer

Horace E. Dimick

Henry Folsom

Meyer Friede

Frederick W. Hellinghaus

John P. Sites

Stephen O’Dell

James Henry or J. Henry & Son

Henry E. Leman

George & Edward K. Tryon


The half stock rifle came into its own with the plains rifle, but some plainsmen still preferred full stock rifles.  The barrels were shorter than longrifles for use on horseback.

Here is a picture of a J. Henry & Son half stock trade rifle that might be similar to the rifle that Bob Roller copied.  These rifles would have been very common on the plains in the 1860's and 1870's with both Indians and plainsmen.

This is VERY close to the one in our Art Museum. Ours,if I'm not mistaken has a repaired grip and a snake skin.
I might take advantage of my privilege and see if I can get that gun out of the case and look closer.

Bob Roller

[Don Stith]

You might look for a copy of " Missouri Gunsmiths to 1900" by Victor A. Paul.
Of course this one does not include plains rifles made in Philadelphia ,Pittsburgh , Ohio, Or Illinois
 Curt Johnsons Illinois makers book is also a good source
 Dont get too excited about the Beauvais rifles. Who knows who actually made them.  Most could be traced to one owner formerly in St Louis

[Pete G.]

If you want something a little different, but completely historically accurate, how about a half stock with a back action lock. Add a poured pewter endcap and you will have something that any pioneer from the early west would recognize.

[Dale Campbell]

http://www.texasguntrade.com/texassportingrifles.htm

This link shows a wide variety of plains rifles all made or found in Texas. It only shows full length lock side, with the great exception being the original flint half-stock rifle. If anything it demonstrates that one style simply didn't exist.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Dale:  excellent link.  What a collection!

[Dale Campbell]

I can't remember where I got the link from. Probably someone else posted it and I saved it. There was a whole half-stock flintlock discussion (or several) and this link probably came up then.

[smylee grouch]

Thanks for posting that link Dale. It is indeed an excellent collection.

[Mike_StL]

You might also consider the "Trade Rifle Sketch Book" by Hansen.   This little book covers some of the early rifles going to the Plains before the rifles were being called Plains Rifles.  What gives this book real value is that along with the descriptions,  there are full sized drawings of each of the rifles.

I used the drawings to make my DerInger replica.  This was an early build for me and my version is a bit slab sided.

[oakridge]

http://www.texasguntrade.com/texassportingrifles.htm

This link shows a wide variety of plains rifles all made or found in Texas. It only shows full length lock side, with the great exception being the original flint half-stock rifle. If anything it demonstrates that one style simply didn't exist.

This is a page from Chris Hirsch's website texasguntrade.com. He set this up when he was writing his book. I agree this group of rifles shows just how generic the term "plains rifle" is. The main thing most have in common is a large caliber .50 -.58. Most all are half-stocks, some have back-action locks, some are single-keyed (although I think double-keyed looks better), different styles of trigger guards. Similar guns were made by gunsmiths all through the Mississippi Valley. Some resembled those made by the Hawken brothers, others not so much.

You have lots of leeway in building one. Just remember if it's bigger than a squirrel rifle, and it's not a target rifle, it's probably a "plains rifle".   

[Dale Halterman]

Thanks for all the replies. It will get me started.

Dale H