"Baer Killr

[Pukka Bundook]

We had one we hunted after he did a terrible job on the house. Never did find him.    :-)

[little joe]

Like the spelling. This is most likely the way D. Boone would have named it.

[Hungry Horse]

I like the overall appearance of this SMR, but feel a couple of features are at odds with the rest of the build. Initially this gun looks like a higher grade SMR with some carving, a beautiful patchbox, a nice piece of wood, engraving, and an elaborate nosecap. But, then there is the lack of an entry pipe for the ramrod, and no buttplate, which screams poor boy. I feel there is a design conflict going on here. I also believe that the intentional misspelling might have been seen scratched into the stock, but not engraved on a traditional thumb piece. JMO.

  Hungry Horse

[B.Barker]

HH there are more than one original that has no butt plate but the rifle have carving. One has a good amount of carving with a nice iron nose cap and still no butt plate and with a nice wood patch box. It's in the RCA II book. There is another rifle with carving around the wrist like I have in Mr. Ivy's book on North Carolina rifles and it's a plainer rifle with no butt plate or nose cap. You find "odd" things on southern rifles that's why I like them so much.  They probably drove the more conservative Pennsylvania makers crazy in their day if they ever seen each others work. As for spelling I've seen old guns with miss spelled words,  you even see it in books printed back in the 18th and 19th century.

[Stoner creek]

I like the overall appearance of this SMR, but feel a couple of features are at odds with the rest of the build. Initially this gun looks like a higher grade SMR with some carving, a beautiful patchbox, a nice piece of wood, engraving, and an elaborate nosecap. But, then there is the lack of an entry pipe for the ramrod, and no buttplate, which screams poor boy. I feel there is a design conflict going on here. I also believe that the intentional misspelling might have been seen scratched into the stock, but not engraved on a traditional thumb piece. JMO.

  Hungry Horse

Precisely why I like it so much.

[Pukka Bundook]

BB,

Nobody could spell in the 18th & 19th centuries.   

Little Joe,
I think Dan'l Boone spelled bear "Barr" on at least one occasion.  as in, "D Boone Kilt a barr on this tree".  Think it had 2 r's (The spelling not the bear!)

[EC121]

Brian:  It is your rifle.  You can build yours any way you want, and they can build theirs any way they want.  You don' have to justify it to this bunch.      I liked it in the white, and it will only look better finished.  BUT You will have to clean it up to finish it since Wayne slobbered on it for two days at Joe Wheeler.  Probably raised the grain some. 

Brice

[Dan'l 1946]

BB,

Nobody could spell in the 18th & 19th centuries.   

Little Joe,
I think Dan'l Boone spelled bear "Barr" on at least one occasion.  as in, "D Boone Kilt a barr on this tree".  Think it had 2 r's (The spelling not the bear!)

  Wasn't it Mark Twain who said that it was a poor word that couldn't be spelled several ways?
                                                                                     Dan

[Stoner creek]

Brian:  It is your rifle.  You can build yours any way you want, and they can build theirs any way they want.  You don' have to justify it to this bunch.      I liked it in the white, and it will only look better finished.  BUT You will have to clean it up to finish it since Wayne slobbered on it for two days at Joe Wheeler.  Probably raised the grain some. 

Brice

Yep! What he said 

[n stephenson]

Brian, you are correct about the rifles you gave as examples . When I got to see this  rifle I was drawn to various elements you incorporated into it! Not to mention it handles VERY nicely , especially considering barrel length . I guess after seeing so many "copied, bench copied , styled after" rifles over the years , it is refreshing to see builders being creative , and doing it as well as you have here. Don`t get me wrong , there is NOTHING at all wrong with copying the works of the early Masters we all admire. I just find myself getting a little more excited these days , by seeing some of the creations being made by our modern Masters . I pretty much like them all , but I admit that I am drawn to different. JMHO  Nate

[54ball]

 Brian,
 Were you inspired by the Harvey Gillespie "Pine Boughs and Turkey Tracks? That decoration to me looks Gillespie inspired. it's wonderful and it works.
 
 The Gillespies built many a fine rifle without a butt plate. A rifle like yours and theirs.....I would not call a Po Boy or Poor Boy. I's just more than that.

[David R. Pennington]

I really like it. Are there two seperate cavities under that slider? Are there originals that way, or is that your creation?
  I don't see any conflicts.
 Spelling was all phonetics until some guy wrote a dictionary and got it published. I love deciphering old manuscripts and reading the creative spelling. Sometimes the same word is spelled differently in the same document.

[B.Barker]

Yes the Gillespie barrels was inspiration for the barrel treatment.
I have seen an early southern rifle that had a grease hole under the a sliding patchbox but it was done a little different.
My ideas come from originals with a little of me thrown in most of the time.

[Mike Brooks]

With due respect to HH's comments I feel your gun has tremendous artistic merit. The architecture is outstanding , as are the triggers and guard. The poured nose cap is a nice piece of work as well. The lines of the buttstock are in particular outstanding, both the upper and lower comb and toe lines as well as the graceful curve of the back side, most folks get that wrong. The patch box is well formed too. There's nothing about this gun that bothers me (a rarity) all positives in my book. The total package is believable IMO.

late add on:  The thumb piece I could take or leave, but if your customer and you both like it then it's all good. I have put far more controversial stuff on guns.

[B.Barker]

Mike I doodle a lot on my rifles and set them back for a day or two before I decide if I like it or not. Rarely do I use the first thing that gets doodled. I went back and forth with the thumb piece and crudely carving "BAR KILLER" on the box lid. Sometimes I do something to a rifle and hate it afterwards. Oh, I'm not offended by critiques either. How else can a person learn.