Author Topic: Mowrey 54 Caliber  (Read 6891 times)

chickenscratch

  • Guest
Mowrey 54 Caliber
« on: November 23, 2011, 06:24:02 PM »
I recently purchased an Allen & Thurber replica made by William Mowrey.  This gun has a brass receiver and a brass forearm.  An article I found on Mowrey said that when he left the company that he and his brothers owned that bore his name, there were lots of 50 caliber guns made but only two that were not...a 45 and a 54 caliber black powder guns.  Can anyone give me information or direct me to where I might find additional details on this gun.  The article I have is from a 2005 Rifle magazine.
Thanks
Al

Offline Bob Roller

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 9687
Re: Mowrey 54 Caliber
« Reply #1 on: November 24, 2011, 01:33:47 AM »
Al,
W.L.Mowrey,Olney,Texas also made conventional Hawken type rifles. I made the locks and triggers for them and this was in the mid 1960's. He insisted I put my name on the outside o the lock plates which I didn't really want to do. The lock makers name should be inside the lock. I THINK the guns as well as the name were taken to Indiana but I am not certain of that.I do know that the Mowrey name was used long after Bill Mowrey got out of the business.
How many were made and what the calibers were,I never knew. A local police officer here had one and I did some minor repair on it years ago.

Bob Roller.


Offline SCLoyalist

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 697
Re: Mowrey 54 Caliber
« Reply #2 on: December 21, 2011, 07:05:27 AM »
The odds of finding a copy would be slim, maybe none, now, but back in the early 80s there was a bookstand pub edited by Jack Lewis, titled  "Gun Digest Black Powder"  or something along those lines.   It devoted one chapter each to extolling the virtues (both real and imagined) of Dixie Gunworks, CVA, H&A Underhammers, and the Mowrey Boxlock.

As I recall, the tone of the writing wasn't very scholarly - in fact, more along the lines of a writer  trying to sell his advertisers' repro Italian guns.  Still, there were some words on the history of the gun (I think it was referred to as an 'Ethan Allen rifle', perhaps after the original 19th century maker),  discussed the pros and cons of the lock deisgn (pretty short discussion since I think the lock was a sear, a tumbler, and a spring), and a bit about the then current maker and the design's reintroduction.

A google search on "Jack Lewis Mowrey Gun Digest" should turn up some used copies.
« Last Edit: December 21, 2011, 07:14:15 AM by SCLoyalist »