Comments:
A S'gost carbine! He made rifles all over the walls for his clients, didn't he? Short ones, long ones and rifles in between. This gun appears to have been made in its present length and handily fits into the 'short rifle' concept. It is quite well made and is a pretty gun, even with its abbreviated design. The furniture engraving is very fine and the addition of engraved inlays enhances its appearance. Of some interest, are the protective blast shields by the lock, and tang. This was a time consuming and finicky application and they appear to be made of German silver. Nice touch! Not many builders used the shields.
The barrel engraving is a classy touch and it shows a high degree of competence, as does the patent breech.
Congratulations to the Forum, the Proprietors, and the heirs for making the exposition of a long overlooked family of excellent gun builders possible. A full book could be written about them, and should.
Given that this piece fits what we know (or don't know) about the S'gosts, it looks like a perfect candidate for the Library: especially the section devoted to the family. It would be nice to have some numbers on the gun and perhaps the jpgs can be cropped some, to get up closer. My thanks to the owner for sending it in.
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Fine mountings on this rifle, with his typical heavily cut, attractive engraving. I question if the barrel is original length, due to the maker's first initial being damaged by the current placement of the rear sight; I doubt any gunmaker would have done that. However, the forestock shaping ahead of the last ramrod pipe and behind the nose cap looks correct, so if shortened, it was a good job. I also think the two "book end" German silver inlays on either side of the top of the tang are later additions, based on what appears to be slightly larger nail head sizes and a lack of engraving. Overall, this was/is a typical, high quality Schreckengost rifle with beautiful furniture and deserves to be in the museum...along side all the other Schreckengost rifles that have been submitted.
