Ohio Rifles

[moleeyes36]

A friend of mine is from Ohio and is thinking of getting an Ohio rifle.  He's seen a lot of pictures of them on line and has been trying to figure out what barrel lengths would be correct for Ohio rifles.  The kit guns all have 36" barrels, but I told him not rely on anything he might see in a kit as being the last word.  I suspect shorter barrels may have also been common, especially in "boys rifles". 

Ohio rifles are something I know little about and have no reference material on them.  I can also find a lot of pictures and considerable information on line, but little on typical barrel lengths.  I think the pictures might sometimes make the barrels look longer than they really are.  What range of barrel lengths would be proper for an Ohio rifle?  Thanks.

I can't convince the guy to get a nice flintlock long rifle, but I'm working on it.

Mole Eyes

[Acer Saccharum]

Log Cabin Shop in Lodi, OH has a very nice in-house museum of Ohio rifles.

[Pete G.]

When I was doing research to build one for my wife I found that most have barrels in the longrifle range. A 36" barrel is a little short; length in the range of 38"- 42" is not uncommon. Also during this period most have a straight or nearly straight barrel contour. Couple that with a thin buttstock and you can end up with a rifle that handles like a fence post.

Having said that, you could use an Ohio style to inspire sort of a small caliber plains type rifle that, while not exactly historical, can make a nice little rifle.

[galamb]

Grouping them all as "Ohio rifles" is like trying to categorize all rifles from Pennsylvania the same way.

There are Ohio rifles stretching all the way from the latter part of the Golden Age up into the very late percussion era.

Some are long swamped barreled, very ornate flintlocks and others a shorter, straight barreled half-stocks with practically no decoration.

I do have a bunch of info on Ohio's and a ton more is available from the AOLRC (just google - they have "years" worth of articles available in PDF).

Here is some "fancy" Ohio's with barrels in the 42"'ish range




And then some half-stocks (mostly) with barrels ranging from 34 to 44"



Unfortunately, when someone says OHIO, a Vincent may be the only thing that comes to mind...



So if your buddy want's a 28" straight barreled cap gun there "is" an original Ohio out there that was built that way.

I love Ohio's even if many consider them "ugly" 

[EC121]

I had a Barnhart rifle from Ross Co.   It was in the 38in.+ range in a 40 cal.  About 1in. or so across the flats.  Heavy rifle.  The tools that made it were on display in the Ross Co. Historical Soc. museum with a few more Barnhart rifles on loan from the family.  It looked about like the last rifle in the post above. 

[Tim Crosby]

 http://www.aolrc.org/

   Tim C.

[Daryl]

WOW - such diversity in design - never would have guessed - from "mountain" rifles to fine Pennsylvania styling - to my untrained eye, that is.

[moleeyes36]

Graham,

You're correct, I held the same misconception about Ohio rifles that most others do.  When I heard "Ohio Rifle" I immediately thought of a half-stock percussion rifle that is epitomized by the Vincent rifles.  Those rifles have never appealed to me because in the pictures I've seen they are overly ornate (gaudy in my eyes), have a stock profile that I don't like, appear to be nose heavy and worst of all they're percussion guns.  

HOWEVER, as Daryl so aptly said in his post, "WOW - such diversity in design - never would have guessed - from "mountain" rifles to fine Pennsylvania styling".  Those flintlock rifles on the AOLRC home page are beautiful.  I would never have "thunk it"  .  Thanks for the information.  I'm going to join the AOLRC and do some research on early Ohio flintlock long rifles.  I think taking a shot at building one of those is going into my project list.

Mole Eyes

[galudwig]

About 12 years ago, I was really interested in acquiring a small caliber flintlock longrifle to hunt squirrels with here in Ohio.  Once I decided on the .36 cal., I started searching for a rifle.  I did not want a manufactured rifle, preferring something "unique".  I happened to meet Homer Dangler at Friendship and he had with him an original flintlock long rifle that he said he had acquired from a gentleman in SE Ohio.  He liked the original gun so much that he offered it as one of his "kit guns" when he was still doing that.  Homer had just sold his kit building business to Jim Klein.  However, he still had a few odd kits leftover to sell.  I explained to him that I had never "built" a rifle before and was a bit intimidated by the whole idea.  About two and a half hours later though, Homer had me convinced that I could do it and I ended up purchasing one of his two remaining Ohio Squirrel Rifle kits and VHS copies of his rifle building tapes (which are excellent, I might add).  

Over the course of the next two winters, I worked on assembling the rifle.  With the help of his tapes and  "Recreating the American Longrifle", I finally completed my first longrifle.  She ain't perfect by any stretch, but I learned a lot, tried some new concepts, added some "fancy" stuff, and came away with a greater confidence in my ability to build longrifles.  It has a 42" 13/16" .36 cal barrel and it is definitely nose-heavy.  If I had to do it over again, I'd cut the barrel to 38".  It's a squirrel-killer though.  My son and I take a few with it every fall!

galudwig













Just goes to show that not all Ohio rifles were Vincents!

[Old Ford2]

Galudwig,
You have a very fine looking rifle, you should be proud!
It certainly represents a Ohio rifle.
T.C. Kelly on this forum has written a fine book on Michigan rifles, perhaps he can step in and add some of his great knowledge on this topic.
I am not suggesting that Ohio rifles were the same as Michigan rifles, as I know so little about them, but hope that Mr. Kelly can help us out.
I do have a very fine Vincent, in .45 cal. Made by Mr. L Bryner ( recent manufacture ) It is half stock with silver inlays, and silver patch box. It is percussion with a 36" barrel, and 7/8" flat to flat.
Best regards
Fred

[smokinbuck]

Moleeyes,
the AOLRC has a family picnic and fun shoot coming up in August that is primarily for original Ohio rifles. There will be contempoaries there also but mostly originals. It will be at Centerburg, Ohio and if you, or any one else, is interested pm or enail me for information.
Mark

[moleeyes36]

Moleeyes,
the AOLRC has a family picnic and fun shoot coming up in August that is primarily for original Ohio rifles. There will be contempoaries there also but mostly originals. It will be at Centerburg, Ohio and if you, or any one else, is interested pm or enail me for information.
Mark

Smokinbuck,

Sounds like fun but it's a little too far (1,000 miles plus) from here to make a trip just for that at today's gas prices.  As a NMLRA Field Rep I'm ashamed to say I've never made it to Friendship either.  A trip to Friendship is on my bucket list with a side trip to The Log Cabin Shop on the way to see the Ohio rifles Acer said they have on display there.  I've never seen and original Ohio rifle.  Those pictures of full-stock, flintlock Ohio rifles on the AOLRC website got my attention because a rifle with less than 3 1/2 to 4 inches of drop in the stock just doesn't fit me.  Those Ohio rifles would be right in my comfort zone.

I also want to get to a CLA show and Dixon's Gun Maker's Fair at least once.  I sure love the nice warm winters we have here in Florida, but this darn sand bar in the ocean is a long way from most of the things I'm interested in doing.  And it's almost a dead zone for traditional muzzle loading. 

Mole Eyes

[moleeyes36]

Galudwig,

That's a very nice looking rifle, especially for a first build.  I know what you mean about the barrel making the gun feel nose heavy.  I have a Southern Rifle with the same barrel (.36 cal., 42", 13/16ths) you have in your gun.  When I was younger and could hold that barrel steady for a whole match I appreciated the extra weight.  Now days I have to shoot a lighter barrel for target work.

Mole Eyes

[gunmaker]

I'd be smiling too if I was holding that sweet rifle.  Very nice, as an old Indiana boy, western rifles are of great interest, and not a lot of info either....Tom