Southern Rifle

[Angus]

Can we see the lock motise?

[PPatch]

This rifle gets cooler and cooler, that patchbox release, and the false release "gotcha" needle, is beyond devious. It took a pure rascle to come up with that. My kinda person  

Ron, can't wait to see your work on this gun.

dave

[WElliott]

This is a very interesting rifle. While the guard and double box look E TN, the Triggers and tang look more VA., to me.  Perhaps it was built in Bristol. 🙂  Or in E TN by a maker who had moved down the Valley.

[wormey]

I have a similar rifle without patchbox in original flint.  I seem to detect a slight step wrist at the termination of the butt moulding.  I think Wallace calls this a step toe.  The hardware on mine is brass, but the triggerguard is nearly identical to the one on this gun.  I thought it was made in the valley of Virginia, but two friends of mine whose opinions I value seem to think mine was made by William Read of Spartanburg, Co. South Carolina.  That being said, Read migrated to this area from the valley of Virginia which could explain the style.  The reason I bring this up is that this very interesting rifle could very well have been made by someone who received his training in Virginia and later in life moved to another area in Tennessee or western North Carolina and incorporated some things he saw and liked into his creation.  In any event I really like this rifle and hope someone more knowledgeable than myself can pin the maker down a little further.  It is certainly a paradox and an interesting rifle to study. 

[Hlbly]

I have seen the "needle in a false PB release on Virginia rifles. One I remember was on a M. Scott rifle.

[Dennis Glazener]

I thought it was made in the valley of Virginia, but two friends of mine whose opinions I value seem to think mine was made by William Read of Spartanburg, Co. South Carolina.  That being said, Read migrated to this area from the valley of Virginia which could explain the style.  The reason I bring this up is that this very interesting rifle could very well have been made by someone who received his training in Virginia and later in life moved to another area in Tennessee or western North Carolina and incorporated some things he saw and liked into his creation.

Out of curiosity, is the trigger bow on your rifle longer than the grip rail? The reason I asked is that Jim Webb said that was a strong Valley of VA trait that is seldom seen outside of the valley unless it was made by someone trained in the Valley of VA area.
Dennis

[wormey]

Dennis, yes indeed it is.  I hadn`t made that connection before so this just adds to the traits that suggests valley of Virginia.  By the way, the grip rail ends in a full loop like the iron version of this gun and the bow has the same median ridge.