In 1993, I acquired a Samuel Keller rifle which remained in my collection for some years and this rifle does not strike me as being by the same hand. That Keller rifle, which I unfortunately no longer own, as well as a pistol I know of which I believe Keller also made, have long tapered tangs with an fleur de leis finial. My Keller rifle had a long patchbox, without sideplates, also with a fleur de leis finial. Robin Hale, as I recall, told me that was typical of Samuel Keller's work. Unlike Mike's rifle, it had a swell in the belly line just behind the rear pipe; a different style cheekpiece; and different hardware. Of course, I would be the last to say that over the course of a career southern gunsmiths typically made the same gun over and over. I know better than that. However, even if I was not familiar with a known Samuel Keller rifle, the tang and the incised lines of the forestock of Mike's rifle make me think more of western North Carolina than Tennessee. If someone had asked me how to attribute an East Tennessee rifle with the initials S.K., I would have said Samuel Keller, just as my friend Jerry did. Seeing pictures of it it is another matter. Just my thoughts . . . In any event, you have a nice rifle Mike.
