Ever since my uncle bought a bucket of leftover antique muzzleloader parts at a 1970s farm auction in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, I’ve wanted to have a better understanding of how and where the old-time western Pennsylvania gunsmiths obtained the commercially produced gun parts they frequently used to build new muzzle loading rifles. To help to satisfy that desire, I researched and wrote a new web page titled, “
Historic availability of store-bought gun parts in western Pennsylvania”, which examines who was importing, manufacturing, and selling commercial gun parts in western Pennsylvania, including locks, barrels, and trimmings/mountings/furniture. You might be interested in what I’ve found, and you may have comments or things to add. Here’s a link to the new page:
https://korns.org/gunsmiths/gun-parts-432023/x-gun-parts-432023.html
