Nice piece. I think I remember seeing it for sale about 15 years ago but don't remember where - either that, or another one almost just like it. There are a couple of these "J. Baer" rifles floating around and I don't think anyone has pinned down exactly who he was. There are a couple of Baers listed in the old gunmakers books indicating Lancaster or York Co., but this rifle is very clearly northeastern Berks or nw Lehigh, probably Albany or Greenwich twp in Berks or the counties on the other side of the line in Lehigh - Lynn or Weisenberg. Very comparable to work of Jacob George and Stoffel Long and even some Angstadt work a bit further south in Rockland twp. (Berks) and the Kutztown area. There were a number of Baer family members originally in Weisenberg (Lehigh) and then over into Berks, and I very strongly suspect that these "J. Baer" rifles were made by either a John or Jacob Baer who hasn't yet been identified via tax records as a gunsmith. Much like a number of the makers up in that area (not all, but certainly a good number), he probably was farming much of the year as well as building rifles, so he may have been taxed as a farmer.
