Issac Haines Mahogany rifle

[Goo]

I am hoping if someone out there has a photo of the top and underside of the mahogany smooth rifle they would be willing to share.  I have a slab of very dense hard Sweitenia Mahagoni for this project and it would be nice if the only differences were my signature and date of build on the gun.    lots of people have tried to copy this gun most do it in different wood.  I want to throw my hat into the ring on this one as they say " Imitation is the highest form of compliment"  I want to show a worthy compliment.  Please help me out here.

[alacran]

You may want to contact Wallace Gussler on this. Congratulations on having a slab of Cuban Mohogany large enough for your project.

[Ron Scott]

Should you be fortunate enough to locate the photos, would you be willing to share?

[Goo]

If I locate photos not without permission to share.

[bama]

The best pictures of this rifle are in the books, The Lancaster Long Rifle & Masterpieces of the American Longrifle. Neither of these books have any good shots of the bottom of the rifle. I built a version of the rifle a few years ago, it is not a copy but a close representation with a few added design details. I did not have mahogany but found a really nice piece of clairo walnut that carved beautifully.

[Goo]

Bama thank s for the reply, your rifle is quite beautiful and a wonderful example of contemporary rifle building.    I however estimate the value of my slab of mahogany to be quite high and worthy of an accurate attempt as possible.i will be build leaving the bottom and top blank if I can't get pictures.

The best pictures of this rifle are in the books, The Lancaster Long Rifle & Masterpieces of the American Longrifle. Neither of these books have any good shots of the bottom of the rifle. I built a version of the rifle a few years ago, it is not a copy but a close representation with a few added design details. I did not have mahogany but found a really nice piece of clairo walnut that carved beautifully.

[hawkeye]

Wonderful craftsmanship, super nice rifle
Thanks for sharing Hawkeye

[bama]

Goo, I perfectly understand and I wish you all the best in your pursuit. The two books I mentioned have the best pictures that are published. You may try to contact Patrick Hornberger to see if he has some pictures that are not published that he might share. I like this rifle very much and think it to be one of the very best carved rifles that Haines did. I did not set out to do a bench copy of the rifle and only shared my rifle because you share a common interest with me on this rifle. I have seen the rifle in person when it was on display at the Reading Museum. The museum would not allow any photography, It is quite fascinating, to the point that I almost got thrown out of the museum because I stepped on on the pedestal of the display to get a better look without thinking and was immediately collared by the museum security. They did let me stay but was warned pretty good about the displays.

Again, good luck

[rlm]

I downloaded these pictures from a post on Facebook














how do i check my monitor size

[alacran]

Wow the carving behind the cheek piece is spectacular. That butt plate is really thin. Thanks for sharing.

[Carl Young]

This thread triggered an old memory about a huge importer of mahogany here in Mississippi: https://www.newmanlumber.com/direct-sales

Does anyone know for certain the species of mahogany on the original? If there was a "better" mahogany for stocking, would you use it or stick to the original? last time I was there was 30 years ago, and they would not sell me a thousand board feet of Honduras mahogany per month as it was not worth their time to fool with a small order...

Thanks for the great info guys!
Carl

[alacran]

According to Wallace Gussler. The rifle is stocked in Cuban Mahogany( sweitania mahagoni ).
There are other references to the Rifle being made from it.
At the time it would have been available through trade with the Caribean.
It is an endangered species. Can not be harvested in Cuba. It does grow in other Caribbean islands as well as Southern Florida.