Heavy New England Percussion Plains Rifle

[hawknknife]

The posting on the percussion with the Remington barrel jolted my memory of a similar rifle that I own that has the barrel  made by Hitchcock & Muzzy.  This big rifle is in .54 caliber, 34 inch barrel, iron mounted, and weighs 13 lbs.

It is an interesting rifle in that the lock, the barrel, and the gunmaker was three different people.  The lock is engraved, "William Read, Boston".  The barrel by Hitchcock and Muzzy.  And the maker of the gun stamped on the barrel flat is "David H. Hilliard."  Seller's book states that Hitchcock and Muzzy went out of business in 1857.  Research has indicated that their manufacturing facility was destroyed by a large fire in 1854.  I would guess the manufacturing date of this gun to be the early 1850's to 1855.

The stock is stained in a reddish violin color with pronounced stripe in the maple.   The bore is sharp and clean all the way through.

Can anyone tell me what the numbers would mean stamped under the breech and on the face of the muzzle?  The barrel is tapered measuring 1 1/4 inches at the breech and 17/16ths at the muzzle and overall is in excellent condition.

Thanks
Carl W. Merck
www.hawknknife.com

[keweenaw]

The numbers could be just assembly numbers.  If this was "factory" built there might have been one person fitting breeches to barrels and the breech to the standing breech.  Because the breeches and standing breeches would have been case hardened after being fit to a stock, having them numbered would allow a group to be case hardened simultaneously and all the fitted pieces put back on the same rifle. 

I for one couldn't resist shooting that rifle!

Tom

[Hurricane ( of Virginia)]

There is an interesting coincidence. Recalling that the proprietor of AAAWT
(http://www.aaawt.com/) , an antique dealer, is named David Hilliard, I went to the site,  searched and found:

D.H. Hilliard Long Barrel Underhammer Pistol
This example with not often found...Remington Barrel
Cornish, New Hampshire
This example with serial number 88 is .36 caliber percussion with a 12-inch octagonal barrel that is marked "135" on muzzle and "2 - 6 5/8" under barrel. The original hooded front sight remains, as does the original peep rear sight. It is maker signed on top flat. There is a nice single leaf design factory engraved onto the top strap; 20% blue on top strap; 80% blue on rear sight, barrel is nice gray brown with no pitting and excellent metal surfaces. The cherry stock is excellent and has no varnish, perhaps oil finish only. There are 3 one-quarter inch diameter wood plugs in the back of the grip; probably at one time the gun had a non-factory stock. The iron trigger guard has traces of blue. As was customary when a maker used a high quality barrel from a respected source, he left the barrel makers name on the barrel to demonstrate the quality of the firearm. In this case the barrel maker was E. Remington of Ilion NY. The gun is complete except for one screw missing from the trigger plate.

You may want to contact Hilliard.
Hurricane

[hawknknife]

Scooter, There is no provision or ever was a false muzzle, end of barrel is perfectly flat.  Isn't .54 a little heavy for a target rifle..maybe a New England bear rifle and I have seen, owned a number of the Northeastern guns that were made for the Western trade.  Anyhow, it is a big hefty rifle...just my thoughts.

[Dphariss]

Very nice old rifle.
Could  be a eastern bear rifle as easily as a plains rifle. Most of the guns used out here show more wear that this one has.
Its a wonderful piece considering its condition would be a great test piece

Dan

[Dr. Tim-Boone]

Looks like she would be fun to shoot.....bear, moose?

[hawknknife]

I think I will fire her off this weekend... a .535 ball with a thick patch is a good fit.  As I stated, the bore is bright and sharp as viewed with a bore light at the bottom.

[Majorjoel]

Here is an interesting target rifle by Hilliard with a bit of history to it.     http://www.gunsinternational.com/Hilliard-Half-Stock-Hunting-Target-Percussion-Rifle-in-45.cfm?gun_id=100136437

[Padre Wullie]

That picture had me wondering too. After looking at it again, I'm pretty sure that is the bottom side of the breech.

BEAUTIFUL rifle.

W

[Dphariss]

I think I will fire her off this weekend... a .535 ball with a thick patch is a good fit.  As I stated, the bore is bright and sharp as viewed with a bore light at the bottom.

I would not shoot it before pulling the breech, nipple and clean out screw.

Dan

[hawknknife]

Scooter, The line you see is where the breach is screwed into the barrel, called the patent breach...that is a breech plug that has the nipple, the nipple bolster and all as a unit and this is screwed into the barrel...this is the system that the Hawken brothers used most often on their barrels.
     Dan, The nipple is the original one, I can't loosen it for fear of buggering it up. It is as clean  as the bore, I mean sharp and bright all the way through.  Would you still be hesitant to shoot it?

[Levy]

I have an old generic half-stock perc. rifle by Enterprise Gun Works that has the # 160 stamped on the muzzle.  It denotes the size ball or bullet mold to use.  Just by chance I have an old mold that is stamped # 160 too.  The gun is .32 cal.  The number on the muzzle of your rifle doesn't seem to coincide with the bore diameter or the number of balls that can be cast from a pound of lead.

James Levy 

[Dphariss]

Scooter, The line you see is where the breach is screwed into the barrel, called the patent breach...that is a breech plug that has the nipple, the nipple bolster and all as a unit and this is screwed into the barrel...this is the system that the Hawken brothers used most often on their barrels.
     Dan, The nipple is the original one, I can't loosen it for fear of buggering it up. It is as clean  as the bore, I mean sharp and bright all the way through.  Would you still be hesitant to shoot it?

Parts that are "stuck" are a red flag. They could only be held in by corrosion.
So they must be checked.
Pull the barrel from the stock, put it breech down in a container of diesel fuel, pour some diesel in the bore.
Or use some of the high tech penetrating oil like PB Blaster in the bore lots of it with a plug in the nipple and in a container, its sure to leak.
Leave it for a few days.

This and then some heat, barrel heated too hot to touch, should loosen the parts.
If you do not feel competent to do this send the rifle so someone who it.
A proof load is also a good idea. But remember there is always a chance of damage when using old guns.

Dan

[Mike T]

  Be cautious!  Better make certain that it's not loaded.  I had one in to repair and it was loaded.  I had to pull the ball and flush the powder out before I worked on it.

[Steve-In]

Could the 6 to 3 be a gain twist note?  1-72 starting twist to 1-36 at the muzzle?  Nice rifle, it looks almost new.  In the "MUZZLE LOADING CAPLOCK RIFLE" Roberts describes "turkey rifles" or "match rifles" used for shooting in the east.  They would also be used for hunting deer, bear and other big game.  He describes rifles of 9 to 15 pounds with turned muzzles for shooting the picket bullets.  It could be that the original owner did notlike the picket bullet and wanted a larger round ball gun.

[hawknknife]

I received a PM from one of our board members who is an advanced collector of rifles made by David Hall Hilliard.  He told be the rifle dated around 1850 and the numbers stamped on the barrel indicated the serial number, the range at which it was fired, powder charge and group size.  The 490 is the serial number, Hilliard built around 2500 rifles and this one being early build.
               Most of his guns were under hammer target guns and a side hammer is pretty rare.  I did find one on line for sale that is very close and they were asking $10,000.00 for it, they were  obviously "sniffing glue"  when they priced it.

[birddog46164]

A follow-up to this story, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to purchase this gun.  It is a beautiful piece and a even after 160 years is a great shooter.  First offhand target shot was a score of 45 on a 6 Bull target, not bad for first 5 offhand shots.  I think Mr. Hilliard would be proud seeing her still doing her job.

[westerner]

Nice rifle.  Nice shooting.  Do you think it was rebored? 

           Joe.

[birddog46164]

I do not believe she has been rebored, gun appears to be untouched except for sights, I do believe they are replacements sights.