Unknown c1970's Plains Rifle

[Bob McBride]

I picked up this early '70s Plains Rifle for a song at a Nashville area auction this past weekend. There was only on other bidder going after the black powder stuff so we split the take and I ended up with this rifle along with 9 others. Whoever built it (W.W.C. marked on the top flat) really did a fine job on the inletting. Brass lock plate on a pretty decent Dixie lock I expect with a nice stout mainspring, 35.5" x 3/4" barrel. Douglas? Set triggers marked 'Made in Belgium' poured pewter nose cap. It doesn't appear fired much if at all. I read online of one other person inquiring many years ago about a W.W.C. marked Hawken in Indiana but could find no other mentions. I ask because it seems well put together (although I know less about Hawken architecture than I know about most things, which is saying something). The auction was full of NMLRA and Friendship paraphernalia from the 60's and 70's. Any thoughts on this rifle and who the builder might be from some of you fellers who have been around since waaaaay back then? Does that look like a Douglas stamp on the muzzle? I know a few other barrel makers stamped on the muzzle this way but have no idea who they might have been? Thanks for taking the time....

[rich pierce]

Yes a Douglas is my vote.

[Bob Roller]

Yes a Douglas is my vote.

Mine too,a Douglas barrel. That lock has a short mainspring and I would
say it's stiff as a board.The Made in Belgium triggers are Dixie.I remember
seeing them when I worked there in the HOT summer of 1958.

Bob Roller

[Cades Cove Fiddler]

  ... I used to frequent the Nashville Gun Show at the State Fairgrounds back in the 1970's,... Robin Hale was always there scouting Tennessee Rifle walk-ins,... !!! ....anyway, there was always one older fellow who would bring muzzle loading guns to sell,... I'm thinking he was from somewhere in West Tennessee,... Always he had a few like yours, always with brass lock-plate with that W W C  mark,...they were well made guns... if I remember correctly the builder was an old black man in west Tennessee named Willie Carter,... some of his pistols had brass barrels,... you lucked up on these, as I was not aware of this auction,... !!!...  I would like to see the others, please.... send me a PM,... Regards, ... Cades Cove Fiddler

[Bob McBride]

Hey CCW, this was a gun auction in Columbia last weekend, I made the trip because there was about 25 black powder guns including a nice Jaeger and a super nice lefty LR of some description by a local maker from back when who I cant recall now and a ton of black powder ephemera. All the other guns I got were c1860 army pistols, and a nice '73 Pedersoli 12g sxs all of which I plan on passing down the line. I must've got 200 jags, 40 molds, half  dozen flasks, and a bunch of other great accoutrements including thousands of wads and such. Thanks a ton for the lead on Willie Carter....

[Dphariss]

Most people would file the Douglas markings off the muzzle but I may have left one like that myself years ago.

Dan

[Hungry Horse]

Douglas instructed purchasers of their barrels to cut an inch or two off the muzzle to remove run out created by unsupported cutters during the rifling process. So technically this piece of the barrel would normally get discarded.

  Hungry Horse

[Bob McBride]

Well, outside of cutting the barrel down this builder did it right as the bottom flat mics as the thinnest flat. Didn't Douglas mark barrels without runout with a XXX or something?

[Daryl]

Yes, they did. I had one. Thought XX, not XXX - memory might not be working. That was 40years ago when I had a Douglas bl.
I thought all the stamping was on the breech end, though.

[heinz]

The stamping was on the muzzle. You were encouraged to cut  a couple of inches off the muzzle because their rifling machine would leave some tool marks there

I always used the cut off for pistol barrels and they shot fine.