Half stock southern mountian rifles.

[wvmtnman]

Now that lawn care season is nearing the end, I am wanting to get back into building rifles.  I have had half stock walnut blank and a 37 inch 15/16  .45 barrel for ever.  Not being a big fan of plains rifles, I was thinking about using them to build a southern mountain rifle, with a percussion lock. 
I know the bean rifle in the Foxfire book is a halfstock but that is the only one I have ever seen.  (and I think that one was probably a fullstock at one point) 
Anyone have any information on the subject?  Or maybe I should have a design my rifle contest....
                                                         Thanks, Brian

[Roger B]

A lot of rifles were freshed & recycled until they died.  We have built halfstock Appalachian style rifles with the thought they were cut off/rebreeched or had the stock broken at some point.  If you use one of the percussion conversion locks (with vestiges of the pan left in the lock plate), you would be there!
Roger B.

[eagle24]

The last rifle in the ALR Virtual Library - Southern Long Arms is a half stock North Carolina rifle made by Henry Wright.  It has a brass trigger guard and butt plate, but some very southern features.  I think there may be another half stock in the Southern Long Arms library, but I haven't had a chance to look.  Also, I'm pretty sure there are some half stocks in Jerry Nobles books.

[T.C.Albert]

Didnt Ron Boron have a set of drawings available (from Log Cabin shop?) of the half stock McKee mountain rifle...cant go wrong with a southern half stock like that..and there are photos of Wiley Oakley the ramblin man of the smokies carrying a long half stock percusion rifle too..his son had it and I thought he said it was also on display at the visitors center in the Smokie Mt. Nat park?
TCA

[wvmtnman]

Are these southern rifles iron or brass mounted?  I was thinking about building an iron mounted rifle but didn't want to deviate too far from originality.  Also, what about the under ribs for this style?  metal or wood?
                                                                                 Thanks, Brian

[rsells]

Ron has the drawing of a McKee rifle that I have called a 3/4 stock over the years.  The stock is a bit longer than the 1/2 stock rifles I have seen in my part of the country.  I am familar with 1/2 stocks  made by Wes Goodwin (just outside Jamestown, TN) that had 36 to 40 inch barrels.  Wes made his full stock rifles with shorter length barrels as well with the exception of his over the log rifles I have seen.  The shape of the butt, butt plate, and trigger guard were the same on both types of rifles.  He even put the same banana patchbox on both type rifles and poured open work nose caps on both.   I have made 1/2 stock mountain rifles for folks using 36 inch barrels and poured nose caps in the past.  They looked good to me, but they are not in demand as much as the full stock longer barrel flint rifles folks like.  I have the parts to build another 1/2 stock 40 cal in the near future.
                                                           Roger Sells

[Sam Everly]

I have a original half stock southern mountain rifle in iron . It has a walnut stock , and i love the stock profile. Jerry Noble said it was made in Alabama. I have seen pictues of Whiley Oakley, holding his rifle and it is a iron mounted half stock . Whiley was a mountain hunter and guide in the early 1900's around the Gatlinburg area. I had a Gillespie half stock, iron and walnut , I think it came out of Phillips shop , it was unsigned.  

[Ken G]

Brian,
I don't think you will be wrong using iron or brass hardware and there are plenty of halfstocks.  My limited wxperience has been almost all were percussion.  Most have metal underribs.  Only one wooden one.  I was with the wife and did not examine it well enough to tell you how the wooden underrib was attached.  Went back later and it was gone. 
Ken

[Dennis Glazener]

Are these southern rifles iron or brass mounted?

I think you will see both. Many of the half stock southern rifles started life as full stocked rifles but at a later date the forearm was cut (maybe because of a break) into a half, or sometimes a 3/4 stock. I have pulled off ribs and seen where the rib was attached using the original dovetails that held the full stock.
Dennis

[Randy1944]

I have one of Wiley Oakley's guns and it is maple half stock with brass metal on it.  The gun itself is kinda crude.

[TPH]

Are these southern rifles iron or brass mounted?  I was thinking about building an iron mounted rifle but didn't want to deviate too far from originality.  Also, what about the under ribs for this style?  metal or wood?
                                                                                 Thanks, Brian

If you are as your name suggests from West Virginia, look around your area and you will find a fair number of half stocked rifles locally made, some converted from full stock rifles and others made that way, they will be good examples to copy for your rifle.  Also, I have seen VERY few West Virginia made rifles with iron furniture, almost all, half and full stock, are made with brass furniture. But crude or well done brass would be what you want and you can't get more "Mountain Rifle" than a gun made in West Virginia.

[G-Man]

John Rice Irwin has had a few original half stocks for sale at the museum shop at the Museum of Appalachia over the years.  One in particular I recall had real nice east Tennessee architecture, with mixed hardware -  a nice Tennessee style forged iron guard, but a cast brass buttplate and mixed iron and brass thimbles. 

Mixed hardware on mountain rifles was not uncommon, particularly in the late period as parts got restocked and reused.  But some of the guns were made that way to begin with - I have seen nice relatively early Bull guns with mixed hardware.

When brass was used, the styles varied - ranging from parts that look like mass produced late percussion era guards and buttplates that turn up on guns from many different regions, to really fine mounts that look like the maker took a set of their forged iron hardware for the pattern, like the Gillespies and others.  A couple of years back, Jim Levy posted photos of a rifle with really fine Bean hardware done in brass in the collection at the museum on Florida. 


Guy

[wvmtnman]

I guess the style I was talking about was with the forged iron hardware and a banana style patch box.  I have made a number of the halfstock brass mounted West Virginia style rifles but was looking to make something a little different. 
I guess I am just going to make one and see what it turns out like
                                                                              Brian

[woodsrunner]

In beating the bushes looking for original John & James Gillespie rifles in Union County, Georgia, a mountain county and home of the Gillespie Bros., we turned up a halfstock mixmaster smoothbore of about .70cal. Have an idea the barrel is from an old musket, and the iron trigger guard, rib & buttplate are iron. Nose cap is horn, lollipop tang, and the top of the butt rakes foward almost 2 inches making it easy for the stock to fall off your shoulder. Never seen a butt shaped like this one. All the iron parts are cheap, the stock is crudely done. Piece of junk even in its best days, but original and speaks volumes about the frugality of folks where I'm originally from.

[G-Man]

Brian - I think you will be fine building that style - I guess what I was getting at is that there is a huge diverse range of styles and parts used on these guns - and a halfstock with iron hardware and a bannana patchbox is certainly something I would not be surprised to see.  There are a number of original fullstocks with that type of hardware that have been shown on here that were made in the late 1800s, well into the period when halfstock rifles became popular.

I recall another nice iron mounted halfstock I saw at Friendship a couple of years ago at Don Stith's booth - it had a Tennessee style guard and a nice iron patchbox - not a bannana shape - it looked more akin to a Virginia style, sort of the feel of the Daniels (Barbour County) style - but could have been made anywhere in the region.  So have fun!  Should be a handy rifle.

Guy

[Levy]

Brian, the Museum of Florida History has a 'J. Bean' halfstock rifle in its collections.  I think it was fullstock originally and then shortened.  The stock is walnut and the furniture is brass, but not cast.  The furniture is made exactly like they would've made it out of iron.  It has a double ended banana patchbox of brass.  The sideplate is missing and the barrel has a silver piece set into it with the name on it.  The lock is missing.  The underrib looks like it was hand forged and joined to the barrel by pins that were staked into the barrel, went through the underrib and were peened.

James Levy

[art riser]

Check out the Bean rifle in Foxfire 5 pages 218 - 219.  It is a half or three quarter stock...

[TPH]

I guess the style I was talking about was with the forged iron hardware and a banana style patch box.  I have made a number of the halfstock brass mounted West Virginia style rifles but was looking to make something a little different. 
I guess I am just going to make one and see what it turns out like
                                                                              Brian

Brian, sounds good. There have been some interesting rifles described here. Following the suggestions and using your ability you should be able to come up with a beauty. Go for it.