Old heavy barrelled half stock .54 with lock marked A T Russel

[cable]

i have had this a while, hoping to restore it, got it from an estate auction back east.  they called it a 'plains rifle'  lock is marked A T Russel, and there are some marks on the barrel, just front of the lock, that i cannot decipher.  has been broken long ago at the lock, and repaired.  needs restoration if possible, but i have neither time nor ability to do so. the lock works well.   will probably put it up for sale, but i am really curious as to what it is, where from,etc.  any ideas appreciated.













any ideas?  as to origin, worth,etc.  i am essentially eliminating most of my disorganized, very eclectic collection, if it can be dignified by the term!

more photos available, if it would help.

[Dave B]

Cable,
It would be helpful to see the whole stock profile from both sides. The detail shots are great but you cant get a sense for the architecture with only these. Maybe the full shots will offer some clues about the origins of this piece.

[cable]

Cable,
It would be helpful to see the whole stock profile from both sides. The detail shots are great but you cant get a sense for the architecture with only these. Maybe the full shots will offer some clues about the origins of this piece.

thanks, i forgot to to that and will do so this evening,
cable

[cable]

here are more pics:













i am not a good photographer, but maybe these will  help.

[rich pierce]

In some ways it looks roughly patterned after the 1803 Harper's Ferry- the half round barrel at least, halfstock, etc.  Guns like these were made all over the place in the 1840's and 50's for the western trade.   Since makers were really moving around as the fronteir kept moving west, this could have been made anywhere from New England to Missouri. It's a real hoss and has some charm, for me.

[cable]

here are pics of markings on the barrel, maybe not visible enough though

[mr. no gold]

What needs to be restored on this gun? It's a great old rifle in good original condition, in my opinion. The patch box looks like that of some of the New York gun makers and I wonder if that isn't its place of origin? The walnut stock goes along with that idea. It has a 'plains' look to it and with the big bore it would have served well. I would think that it is a product of the decade of 1830-1840. Interesting that the maker put a full P'box on it, but no inlays.
Thanks for letting us have a peek at it.
Dick

[cable]

repaired is  better word than restored:  the latch on the patchbox mainly, a little bit of missing brass around the patchbox maybe, and perhaps stabilize the wood repair,  it may be okay, but i wonder, as i was thinking of shooting it.

[Curt J]

This rifle has a lot of "New Yorkish" features.  The patch box looks New York, and so does the octagon-to-round barrel. If it wasn't made in New York, I'd have to believe that it was made somewhere further west by a gunsmith who was trained in New York. There are several Russels listed in the Swinney/Rowe books on New York state, but not one with the initials "A. T." Of course a name on a lock is not usually conclusive anyway.

[Curt J]

Another thought...just in passing. Not all large caliber guns made in New York state were intended to be "Plains Rifles" as we think of them. Some were made for bear hunting in the Adirondacks.

[Ben Gorey]

I believe A. T. Russel was a hardware dealer in New York.  I have a backaction lock marked A. T. Russel.

[PINYONE]

This rifle is unquestionably a New York state rifle. In the 1830s-1850s in the East Central part of the Sate, there were many gunsmith who used this style stock and patchbox. The most well known was J M Caswell, I had several of his rifles and have seen others from the same belt and all resemble this one, this rifle is not a plains rifle, it has the New England under belly profile. Many were maple-walnut- cherry. This one is from the same School. The Great Pinyone has spoken.

[cable]

Pinyone,
that makes sense to me, and after all the rifle was from an east coast estate, which of course it not to say that wasn't 'out west' at one time.   The barrel is about 1 1/8" with little taper which makes it hefty to cart around, but i suspect it is likely still an accurate rifle, especially  offhand as it 'hangs ' very well on target from the shoulder.  may try it, but of course i am supposed to be liquidating my collection, not out playing [sigh ].
thank you!