St.Clair Rifle

[Rich N.]

A friend brought a nice rifle by last evening.  He said it was ok to share with the list.  The work of this gunsmith is difficult to find so I was really happy to have the opportunity to spend a little time studying it.  He worked ca. 1823/49 in the Union/Jackson Township area of what is today Snyder County, Pa.  He was the uncle of several gunsmiths who worked in Pa. and Ohio.  While I have only seen a few St.Clair rifles in my life, he seems to be one of those gunsmiths who liked to vary his work and this one is different from the others that I have seen.  I've often wondered if he was one of the early apprentices in the shop of Samuel Baum which was not far from where St.Clair lived.

The rifle is 54 and 1/2" OL with a 40" full octagon straight rifled barrel.  The hammer appears to have been replaced, but everything else seems to be original.  The half circles that hold the barrel pins are only on the right side except there is one on the left side near the rear ramrod pipe.

[Loudy]

Rich,

Please thank your friend for allowing photos of his rifle to be posted here.  Nice rifle with many typical Upper Susquehanna features.  Great engraved signature.  The gunsmith must have been proud of this one.  Your photo of the entry pipe shows the riveted two piece construction utilized by many gunsmiths from the Union/Snyder County, PA area.  The lock sideplate has the typical deep cut "horns" seen on earlier guns from this region.  Nice engraving on the patchbox lid.  Simple, but well executed.  It's interesting that the barrel on this gun is straight-rifled vs. standard spiral-rifled.  Did you get an approximate bore size?  Did you happen to notice if the inlays were coin silver or german-silver?  If your friend ever removes the barrel from the stock it would be interesting to see if there are any sort of markings on the bottom flats.  As you know, Kratzerville, PA, where S.H. St. Clair owned property, is just across Penns Creek from New Berlin where Samuel Baum's shop was located.  Maybe someday someone will find documentation that provides a link between these gunsmiths.     

Mark Loudenslager
   

[Shreckmeister]

He sure had a similar style to Baum.  Very nice rifle.  Thanks for sharing.  Assume it would
be his earlier work?

[Loudy]

Rich,

I took another look at the engraving on the patchbox lid of this rifle.  It is definitely "simple", but "well executed" may have been a stretch.  More folk-art than fine-art.  The design of the engraving is signature Union/Syder County style. 

Mark   

[Rich N.]

Mark, you wrote:
  "Did you get an approximate bore size?  Did you happen to notice if the inlays were coin silver or german-silver?  If your friend ever removes the barrel from the stock it would be interesting to see if there are any sort of markings on the bottom flats."  

I did not measure the bore of this rifle but it looked to be in the 40-45 caliber range.  Also, I don't know how to tell the difference between coin and German silver and I would love for someone to explain how to tell the difference.  I did talk to the owner last night on the telephone and he said that he did pull the barrel and that there were no markings on it other than the signature in the photograph.

Rich

[Shreckmeister]

Simply put, Coin silver is the color of a silver quarter, german silver has a yellow cast to it. 

[Loudy]

Rich,

Thanks for the additional information about this rifle.  Without going into the chemistry involved, the oxides (tarnish, patina, verdi gris, etc.) formed on German silver is green in color and those formed on coin silver and sterling silver are blue/black.  German silver didn't come into use on guns until about 1840.  It's presence on a gun helps to determine when it was made.  German silver was often used, and sometimes over-used, by the later Union/Snyder County gunsmiths for decorative inlays.  I've even seen a mix of German silver and coin silver used on the same gun.  I can't tell from the photos what type of metal was used for the inlays/escutcheons.  The relatively shallow curvature of the buttplate looks 1810-1820 to me.  Therefore I'm guessing the cheek inlay and barrel-pin escutcheons are made of coin silver.  I'm still curious about the straight-rifled bore.  How common was this on longrifles from Central Pennsylvania?  I've seen a few swivel-breech guns where one barrel is typical twist (or spiral)-rifled and the other barrel is straight-rifled or smooth-bore.  Don't think I've ever seen a single barreled longrifle with straight rifling.  Seems to me that if a gunsmith was going to go to all the work to cut the grooves he would go ahead and make them twist.     

Mark   

[JTR]

Don't think I've ever seen a single barreled longrifle with straight rifling. 
Mark   

Mark, I have a wood box Lehigh rifle with a straight rifled barrel. It's posted in the library someplace, but I can't find it.
John

[mr. no gold]

There are also some swivel barrel rifles which have one barrel with conventional rifling and the other with straight rifling. It would be intresting to know the reasoning behind this.
Dick

[Shreckmeister]

What is the purpose of straight rifling?  I don't understand the advantage.

[Dennis Glazener]

What is the purpose of straight rifling?  I don't understand the advantage.

I have always heard that it was a means to keep fouling from hindering loading. The grooves (furrows according to Gusler) gives a place for the fouling to go rather than to obstruct the bore of a smooth bore.

Dennis

[Bill Paton]

Dillin reports shooting comparisons between smooth bores, straight rifled barrels, and twist rifled barrels, with straight rifled barrels shooting balls twice as accurately and smoothbores and twist barrels much better, of course. I think the patched ball fired from a straight rifled barrel probably leaves the bore without having tumbled down it, and therefore has less of the "curve ball" action so desirable in base ball. And shot could be fired from the straight rifled barrel without damaging it, giving maximum options to the shooter. 

One contemporary maker of straight rifled double rifles once told me they shoot shot BETTER than a non-choked smooth bore, provided the finicky load is worked out properly. The presence of a number of original double rifles with one straight rifled and one smooth bore make me think the shot advantage was not the reason those makers used the straight rifling.

 I favor the main reason to be the better ball accuracy of a birdshot capable barrel as the best probable reason for the straight rifling choice during the muzzle loading era. Ease of loading may well have been a factor, too.  Bill Paton of Alaska, currently in NJ and approaching DC.

[Loudy]

Dennis & Bill,

Thanks for the insights regarding straight-rifled barrels.  Can we jump to the conclusion that this St.  Clair rifle was made primarily for shooting bird-shot (more likely squirrel-shot) versus single round balls?  Sounds like it would be good also for occasional round ball shooting.  At only .40-.45 cal. I imagine it wouldn't be so effective for geese, turkey, or even ducks.  Back in the day, were there any types of competitive meat-shoots where a gun of this type would have been used?  Would this be considered a "buck & ball" gun?   

Mark   

[Mark Tyler]

What is the purpose of straight rifling?  I don't understand the advantage.

Straight rifling allows you the flexibility to shoot both round ball and shot with a level of accuracy. Best explanation is per Gary Brumfield: http://www.flintriflesmith.com/WritingandResearch/WebArticles/straightrifling.htm

[Curt J]

For what it's worth, I have a G. Kopp rifle with straight-cut rifling.  It came from the Illinois-Wisconsin border area, and I'm inclined to believe that it was made here, during George Kopp's eleven years in Haldane, Illinois. This is a fullstock, with a 48" barrel, .56 caliber, with seven straight grooves.  It has fine sights and double-set triggers, so I have to think that it was expected to be reasonably accurate.

[Mark Tyler]

My George Kopp (made in PA) is also straight rifled, but with 6 grooves. My Andrew Kopp is right hand twist with 8 grooves. I have seen several Kopp's with straight rifling.