This exhibit was made possible through the courtesy of The Tioga Co. Historical Society in Owego, NY
Comments:
A very nice Eister ! Send it to the museum ..Is this gun signed ? ..A lot of his were not . Anxious to see the box and how many screws hold it in place .. Guns in this condition always excite me. Very glad to see it .
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Wow, an untouched attic condition Eister, how cool is that! Of course we need to see the box, but everything else is right on the money. A very nice addition to the library.
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This is a great acquisition for the museum, an Eister in attic condition, proudly showing its wear and patina from a long and useful working life, along with a few scars and a barrel that is probably shortened a couple of inches. The carving is understated and elegant, and well represents Eister's work, as do the mountings and rear ramrod pipe. A good picture of the patchbox should complete this photo show. However, it would be nice to also see the engraving on the side plate, and perhaps a close-up of the cheekpiece star inlay to see if it is original. This is a great rifle, and offers a rare opportunity for the museum to add a special rifle in original, unrestored condition.
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I believe what I'm about to share is a first here...
This rifle and others to come are owned by the Tioga County, NY Historical Society in Owego, NY. They have absolutely no problem with public disclosure of museum ownership and invite anyone interested to pay a visit to the museum in Owego. What I've seen and held and what they have in storage is simply beyond imagination.
A gentleman by the name of Dale Campbell and I were invited to photograph these rifles and granted full access to their collection. I'm embarrassed that I somehow overlooked the patchbox on the Eister and am hoping that Dale got some shots which I'll attach as soon as they're received.
To answer some questions...
The rifle is unsigned. Therefor no photo of the signature area.
Star on the cheekpiece may have been engraved, but it's now worn smooth and showing only very faint evidence of any artistic work.
The barrel may have been cut a bit, but not by much. By the looks the bore has either been worn smooth ( possibly re-bored smooth), or possibly even a smooth rifle from the beginning. This rifle earned its keep over decades of use.
As you can see the rifle has been in museum custody for almost 60 years. Luckily they've refrained from any restoration work. The gentleman (Tom) in charge of caring for their antique firearms is a black powder shooter and a walking F&I and Revolutionary history encyclopedia. I have every confidence that these fine rifles will exist far into the future without damage.
Shelby constantly kids me about NY rifles. Fact is, I just got a nice mail from him, along with a good ribbing about my love for NY guns. I keep trying to convince him that these in our little corner of NY are really PA rifles that merely lost track of the physical state border.
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Thanks for putting up the pictures of the patchbox. No question about this gun, we are fortunate to be able to add this to the library.
