I have an unfinished Somerset rifle in my stash. I started it years ago when a good friend bought a beautiful Bedford at a rendezvous. The seller was also the builder, and he assured the new owner that the gun was a modern copy of an existing antique, only differing in that it was flint, and not a percussion conversion like the original.
The same seller had a Somerset rifle on his rack as well. It actually had its maple stock cut from the same piece of wood as my friends Bedford. I wanted it desperately but simply couldn’t afford it. I got a piece of nice maple, and a barrel, and some furniture, and actually started to work on it, but found so few examples of Somerset rifles use as inspiration, that I lost interest. I am now inclined to dig it out, and finish it, if I can find some pictures of Somerset rifles to get inspiration from.
Hungry Horse
