Original Soddy value

[oldtravler61]

  Trying to help my friend Jack Duprey out. Jack has an original Soddy that he is trying to find the fair value of it.  I posted some info on it a year or so back. The gun could have some ties to the Alamo. We have been researching as much info as we can find to possible pin point it to the Alamo.
  What we have are crude numbers on the gun and initials scratched into the stock. IF the initials are right they belong to a 24 year old soldier from Tennessee that was killed there.
  My research has brought me to this: The gun was purchased in the 70s in Arizona from a Mexican family. By Ron Blakeslee better known as Pappy. Ron was a friend of mine and the late Pa Keeler. .Other than that it was then purchased from Ron via another friend. That is when Jack bought it. Any help on it's possible value would be appreciated.   Thank you. !   Mike

[JTR]

I'm sure you already know this, but,,, if it can be absolutely traced to the Alamo, the price will be considerable!
With just some initials on it, the value will be that of a Soddy rifle, considering condition.

I've only seen a few Soddy rifles for sale lately, and considering condition, seem to range up to about $4000.

One question, as I'm not that well versed on Soddy guns; were they being made prior to 1836, in a recognizable Soddy configuration? 

Any pictures of the gun?

[WElliott]

Value is difficult to guess without detailed pictures of the rifle. If it was an original full stock Soddy im original percussion,  2 to 3,000 would seem right

[Seth Isaacson]

  Trying to help my friend Jack Duprey out. Jack has an original Soddy that he is trying to find the fair value of it.  I posted some info on it a year or so back. The gun could have some ties to the Alamo. We have been researching as much info as we can find to possible pin point it to the Alamo.
  What we have are crude numbers on the gun and initials scratched into the stock. IF the initials are right they belong to a 24 year old soldier from Tennessee that was killed there.
  My research has brought me to this: The gun was purchased in the 70s in Arizona from a Mexican family. By Ron Blakeslee better known as Pappy. Ron was a friend of mine and the late Pa Keeler. .Other than that it was then purchased from Ron via another friend. That is when Jack bought it. Any help on it's possible value would be appreciated.   Thank you. !   Mike

Do you have more information that suggests those initials are this soldier's for a particular reason? Lots of people out there have the same initials. Sounds like a really interesting project. I'm sure we'd all like to see pictures of the rifle.

[oldtravler61]

  This is a flintlock. The gun has been shown at the CLA ,Knoxville show over the last few years. As far as I know it is all original. For the initials they if true match a fellow that was listed as killed there.  Oldtravler

[art riser]

https://contemporarymakers.blogspot.com/2008/03/jack-duprey-and-original.html

[Seth Isaacson]

  This is a flintlock. The gun has been shown at the CLA ,Knoxville show over the last few years. As far as I know it is all original. For the initials they if true match a fellow that was listed as killed there.  Oldtravler

That's very interesting, but just because they match a guy, why do we think it was his in particular if they also match a bunch of other people? Was there more reason to believe this gun was used at the Alamo based on documented provenance or something?

I really like the looks of the gun. Very nice and simple.

[oldtravler61]

 Rambling right now we are only guessing. Because of the listing of those killed at the battle. Obviously somehow that gun made it to the south west.
  How or who brought it their we are not sure.
 Art Rider has a picture of the original and one of Jack's rifles on the CLA site
for a comparison of the two guns. Jack's and the original. It's all speculation at this point.
  I just received an email that the numbers on the gun could (?) be military assignment numbers or museum documentary numbers for tracking it in or for their records. Now it's getting interesting as the plot thickens.
 Check Art Riders photos on the CLA site. Much better that I can do.
Oldtravler

[Seth Isaacson]

Definitely a really cool rifle.

I was just confused on whether you were very confident in the attribution and why based on your earlier comment that the initials:

belong to a 24 year old soldier from Tennessee that was killed there.

It would be interesting if those numbers are able to be tracked back to a museum collection that might have more provenance information. Any luck pinpointing down when and where the gun was made? It being made in the same area the soldier was from might help provide more credence to your theory. Otherwise, it is pretty hard to do anything more than tentatively attribute them to the soldier. Absolutely awesome gun regardless though in my mind with or without any special history.

[art riser]

[oldtravler61]

  Here is a pic of Jack's copy and the original. Big thank you to Art and Jan Riser for this. Also in Randall Pierce book their are more pictures of this rifle.
  With out a doubt in my mind. This rifle came from Soddy -Daisy county in Tennessee.
  I'll just keep plugging along. Thank you everyone.  Oldtravler

[WElliott]

Soddy Daisy is not a county, just a settlement area outside Chattanooga.