Western NY: Attic find

[cmac]

Neat old rifle even though it is missing a lot of parts. I think it was probably a flintlock and possibly converted to a side hammer. The straight 1" octagonal barrel is 34 1/2" long and has a front barrel lug. So it was a full stock. The rifling is totally gone except for at the very end of the muzzle. It mics out at .60 inside the rifling but further down in the bore around .540. No charge in bore and only about 1/4" of breech plug threads(guessing by putting ramrod down the barrel). The butt is very small and parch box is only 3/8" deep. The trigger actually comes back to contact sear arm instead of up. No makers mark, just and x on the bottom flat of barrel. There are actually two inlays(I forgot to take a picture of the small triangular silver wrist inlay). Flash guard tacked in behind breech.  Many pictures on my blog...  http://cmacsflints.blogspot.com   
Let me know your opinions and thoughts please

[cmac]

Inlays are not silver as previously mentioned. They are brass. Drop=3 1/2", LOP=12 1/2", Butt plate is 3 7/8" tall and 1 3/8" wide

[Tanselman]

Based on the way the guard's grip rail has a small spur coming off where it meets the bow, I'd guess it might be a Carolina rifle. Seems to be an old cut in the stock wood above the lock mortise, usually a sign of a flintlock. Gun looks pretty late for a flintlock, but you never know with southern guns...if that is what it is.  Shelby Gallien

[cmac]

I was also leaning toward a southern gun due to the side plate "teardrop" inlays, the slim butt stock, butt plate, and shape of the lock mortice.

[cmac]

Does the trigger work different with side hammer locks to trip the sear? Trying to figure why this has the swing that it does

[bgf]

If it was a mule-ear (which it appears to me to have been, unless I'm missing something), the trigger could have worked in several different ways (compared to the "normal" arrangement).  It would be really interesting to have a mule-ear lock southern gun, but they were fairly common in NY, supposedly.

[cmac]

Here is what I came up with for side hammer actions    http://www.google.com/patents?id=3rh1AAAAEBAJ&printsec=abstract&zoom=4#v=onepage&q&f=false

[bgf]

The lock in the patent has a sear set up to function like the usual percussion or flint lock, i.e. the sear located at tail of lock and travels in a vertical arc.  Other arrangements for mule-ears were more common back in the day, I think.  Search on mule ear to see some other arrangements here on ALR.  I hope I'm not misunderstanding your post?

PS. See if anything in this link looks/sounds familiar:
http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=20216.0

I can't tell from the pictures exactly how your trigger is set up, but it definitely looks like mule ear.

[Longknife]

I have an O/U mule ear that I am doing some resto. work on for a customer. The trigger/sear mechanism appears to be of the same type you have. The trigger moves horizontal to the stock to trip the sear.  I will get some pics of it and post them here as there are no marking on the gun and I am looking for oinfo on a maker.....Ed