J.P. McCoy???

[raptor3bd]

Greetings.  This is my one of my first posts in this forum.  I have recently come into possession  of a fairly nice, maple stocked, .45 caliber flintlock longrilfe marked "JP McCoy" on the barrel.  I have done a search on three different engines to no avail.  Can anyone tell me what I have?  I did not spend a lot on it, its my first longrifle, and I support a wife and four young children on a meager Army E-5 salary, so please be gentle...

[smylee grouch]

Raptor, if you can send along some photos, maybe some one here can help you out. J.P. McCoy is a name that has been talked about here befor so I would think some one has the info that you seek.   Smylee

[Longknife]

Raptor, Is this an antique or reproduction? JP gunstocks of Las Vegas Nevada (I think) produced guns called the JP MCoy but went out of business in the '90's....ED


 http://www.amoskeagauction.com/83/408.html

[B Shipman]

It's almost certainly from J.P Gunstacks that went out of business in the 90's. Basically a semi-custom involving a few styles.  Henry trade rifle etc. Probably a good buy. Almost certainly better than the foreign produced junk.  Have fun.

[Don Getz]

If I remember correctly, the J P McCoy rifle was kind of a copy of a Hatfield rifle, which was kind of a copy of a Lehigh rifle,
unfortunately, not that well done................Don

[skullcap]

as was said j.p McCoy was semi custom guns. about three four styles. built around good parts available at the time. l-r locks, green mountain barrels. as were alot of others in the 80's. all gave a common guy something other than import half stocks to think about.

[bigsmoke]

Yep, JP gunstock Co, Jim and Pat Searles from Las Vegas, NV.
The Mc Coy was available in .32 or .45, flint or percussion, 42" brown barrel and lock, brass buttplate and trigger guard, full length curly maple stock, 7.5 pounds.
According to the 6th edition of the Blue Book of Modern BP Gun Values, 100% condition is $690.00, 98% is $600, 90% is $480 and 80% is $350.  Last MSRP was $700.00
Jim had converted his garage and a couple of add on rooms to his rifle shop at his house.  All in all, a nice neat operation.
I had one of his JP Henry rifles in .54 with a GRRW barrel on it, and it was one of my all time favorite rifles.  Really sorry I ever sold it.
As was said, sometime in the late 90's, Jim sold the business and he and Pat moved to the California Gold Rush country to raise hunting dogs, I believe.  The fellow who bought the business moved it to Michigan, IIRC, but has done nothing with it since.  Must be saving it for a very rainy day.

[oldarcher]

I believe that the above post is right on. I had JP Gunstocks build a "J P McCoy" for me in the mid 90's. The rifle was well built and the builder would use the best parts commonly available and would do some slight customization for the buyer. All said, a good rifle at a very good price. I was sorry to see them go out of business, and I wish I still had the rifle they built for me. I think that this is a good rifle to begin your interest in muzzleloading...and...Thank you for your service!

[Hungry Horse]

I think some of these guys are involved in another rifle building enterprise with Steve Hill. It seems I read a write up in one of the black powder magazines about them building some Henry trade rifles. Steve is an excellent smith.

                                            Hungry Horse

[Sean]

I think some of these guys are involved in another rifle building enterprise with Steve Hill. It seems I read a write up in one of the black powder magazines about them building some Henry trade rifles. Steve is an excellent smith.

                                            Hungry Horse

Not Searles, you are talking about Larry Walker of J. Henry Artificers.  Larry builds Henry trade rifles, but they are not semi-custom guns and they are way beyond the quality of Searles work.  Larry builds his own correct Henry locks from castings based off originals, uses castings of hardware that are custom made from original Henry pieces, and even uses custom barrels patterned form original Henry barrels.  His stocks are shaped from blanks.  The research he has put into these guns goes steps beyond Ron Paull's efforts.  Larry's work is the real deal and if you are into fur trade era work, its a help of a bargain for the work that goes into it.

BTW, Steve Hill was working with him on this side project, but I do not believe he is any more.  It's a one man show, and Larry is as fine a craftsman and as great a guy as I've met anywhere.

Sean