Comments:
An odd patchbox with inferior engraving and Berks Co, PA architecture make me wonder if this is really a Beck rifle. Is the barrel signed, or is it the owner's attribution?
The only thing Beck on this might be the barrel if it's signed. It's an interesting gun in it's own right, but it's not a J. P. Beck and it doesn't look like any Christian Beck I've ever seen either.
===============================================================
Just a thought, but there were quite a number of Becks who made guns down through the decades of the 1800s. For example: I had a swivel breech gun made by I.L. Beck; a grand W. PA, golden age rifle turned up 20 years ago in California, made by a George Beck, and Sellars shows several makers surnamed Beck.
We are all attuned to J.P. and Christian, and anything out of that template is not always recognized. Both had offspring that may have made guns, and so on.
In my opinion, we need to see barrel signature/markings to establish if it is a Beck gun and if so, which Beck, if it can be determined. And, of course, as mentioned above, it could be a rifle with a reused barrel.
