J. Fordney Rifle

[jafo20]

Hello everyone,

I am a new to this forum and new to early muzzleloading rifles. I recently purchased a J. Fordney Lancaster Pa. maked rifle off Gunbroker and look forward to possibly getting it into shooting condition with help from the forum members here. I was born in Lancaster so thats what drew me to the rifle, it is a little rough in my opinion but it may be normal for a well used rifle. The rifle has some wood missing around the lock and tang area, I hope it can be fixed.  The rifle is on its way here and I will post some pictures when it arrives.

[Hurricane ( of Virginia)]

Many will likely agree and emphasize : DONT SHOOT It !!!!. Apart from possibly destroying history and your investment, there is significant risk of serious injury  to your self. This has been WISDOM frequently posted on this site. Many will be able to restore your gun with great skill and that will likely become evident as a response to your post.
Hurricane

[Bill of the 45th]

I totally agree with Hurricane, and would offer an alternative to restoring, and that is to have a bench copy made to shoot, and enjoy.  This preserves the original, and shows what it was like new.  Your restoration even if perfect, will likely reduce the value some.  The cost to restore to shooting condition, plus any value loss would probably cover the cost of the Bench copy.  That's my two cents worth.

Bill

[jafo20]

Thanks... The rifle is in rough shape...does it still have collector value?

[mr. no gold]

Hard to tell without some photographs. Can you post some? There are a number of good people here who can discuss restoration, (some guns are not monetarily worth restoring), shooting the old thing, (my advice is already given above: don't), and potential value.
Fordney is a good, known maker; as a past president of the KRA once told me: "When you hear Lancaster, you immediately think of Dickert and Fordney." True words!
Restoration is up to the owner and the restorer. Nothing should be done to make the gun more than it ought to be. If the kids have played with it and beat it up, my inclination is to have some of the vandalism undone. Honest wear should never be disturbed, however.
Get us some pictures and you may be amazed at what some folks can tell you about it.
Dick 

[GrampaJack]

Another thing you might consider is, once you get the gun, making a copy yourself.  It's fun and you would have the luxury of having your example right there for a reference. Talk to the folks in the gun building forum and they will be glad to get you going.

[jafo20]

Thanks everyone for your replies.....I will most likely use the rifle for display and build another.

Can anyone tell me about the bore of these rifles.....this one has a 7 sided bore about 36cal. i'm told.

Thanks

[Larry Luck]

Jafo20,

Welcome to ALR.  I'm one of the folks who agree that a piece of history should be preserved and not expended.  The suggestion of a bench copy is a good one.  Imaging the original and the copy on your wall - and taking the copy down to shoot.

Hurricane and the other Library mods do a great service by preserving original rifles in photographic detail.  You might want to provide photos of your J. Fordney for inclusion in the Library.

Enjoy your longrifle,

Larry Luck

[Dphariss]

Hello everyone,

I am a new to this forum and new to early muzzleloading rifles. I recently purchased a J. Fordney Lancaster Pa. maked rifle off Gunbroker and look forward to possibly getting it into shooting condition with help from the forum members here. I was born in Lancaster so thats what drew me to the rifle, it is a little rough in my opinion but it may be normal for a well used rifle. The rifle has some wood missing around the lock and tang area, I hope it can be fixed.  The rifle is on its way here and I will post some pictures when it arrives.

7 grooves would be pretty common and the caliber of 36 would be fairly common for an eastern rifle. This is about the bore size of William Clarks personal rifle taken on the L&C expedition.
But 7 groove barrels are hard to measure. The actual bore size and rifling twist (if it could be measured) would be of interest to me. So many of these have been freshed, bored and re-rifled and back in the day bored for shot that finding an original bore is rare and this is small enough to be original. Freshing is no so bad as boring but still can change the form of the grooves.
Shooting an original Fordney is not good policy from the standpoint of it being a historical artifact and from the personal safety standpoint. Making or having a bench copy made to shoot is the best course.
Everything about original rifles is of importance. The rifling form and twist for example is of interest. Its unlikey that a Fordney will have a shootable bore so to make it shootable freshing or reboreing might be needed. This is just not acceptable today though many original guns were so modified starting in the early 20th century to improve accuracy or to restore them for use in the ML matches at Friendship etc in the 1930s and perhaps  before this by people like Walter Cline.
This basically destroys the barrel as a historical reference and may even require a new breech plug etc.
Then there is still the inherit danger in shooting antique barrels.
 Some photos of the rifle posted here would be greatly appreciated by everyone here.
 
Dan