Musician's Rifle

[Shreckmeister]

Eric K,  If you can, would you please post more photos of the rifle?  It would be great to see. 

[lexington1]

I would love to see pics of it as well 

[Eric Kettenburg]

Well it looks like the photobucket album got made public in the other thread due to my incompetence at photo posting on this site.  The album itself was supposed to be private and only that one photo was supposed to be made public, so I guess I screwed up.  The djinni is out of the bottle now so no use crying over spilt milk.  I can see they've been viewed a whole pile of times by now anyway so happy Easter everybody.  Rock on!

(and yes I apologize for mistakenly publicizing more than just the box photo which Wallace had already publicized in MB magazine quite some time back, although these are not Wallace's photos...)

 

[Eric Kettenburg]

Oops.  I didn't mean to post a wink, as if I was somehow acting in a capacity other than that of profound regret over this unfortunate photographic publication!  Sorry!

 

[Eric Kettenburg]

Oh $#@*!!!!  I did it again!  I am having a terrible time here.  How tragic this has become.

 

There.  That's better.  Sorry again!

[Eric Kettenburg]

BTW, since it's all out in the open now:

the name on the lock is "J. Heinnerich Fesler"  (the I or J is under the cock)

It's pretty bold, my first thought is 'german lockmaker' but it's awfully prominent, much like the way locks were marked when the maker built the whole gun or was running the shop.

A Henrich Fesler arrived in 1733, a Johan Heinrich Fessler in 1766 and a later guy who really has no bearing on this (same name though) was born in 1771 iirc in NC, family moved down from Germantown (had been in Phila. area through 1750s-60s it seems).  That's all I've found thus far.  The 1733 guy seems like an interesting candidate but he left no trail that I've been able to follow thus far.  Ship Samuel, w/ wife and daughter.  That's it.

One funny note.  There was a Fesler who arrived in the mid 1750s, w/ two sons:  Andreas Fesler and Albrecht Fesler.  (Think on that a minute).

Could this be a German gun in curly maple?

[bgf]

EK,
As soon as I saw those pictures I searched for Heinrich Fessler and variants, and found those !  Who knows, though, Heinrich isn't a rare name.  It seems to me that the date on that one and the one on the BBR are equally unsatisfying.   Nice when they have a name and "fecit" or "warranted by" somewhere next to the date.  It does look like a German gun, with all the engraved metalwork, but then the BBR isn't exactly run of the mill either.   One thing the BBR has going for it, though, is that several of its unique characteristics are preserved closely in SW Va. rifles long past 1771, so even if it isn't "the first" in one regard it seems to be the prototype or coeval with the prototype for many subsequent rifles.

Is the scene on the patchbox anything like the works you allude to in NJ?  It actually looks rather Bavarian and I don't think I've ever seen so much literal engraving on Am. long rifles, anyway, but there is a lot I haven't seen.

[lexington1]

Wow, what an awesome rifle! I know you mention the possibility Eric of it being German. What do you really think of that? The engraving, to my untrained eye, looks very Germanic, with the engraved face on the head of the patchbox and other caricatures. Thank you very much for sharing the pic, even if it was an accident 

[bp]

One funny note.  There was a Fesler who arrived in the mid 1750s, w/ two sons:  Andreas Fesler and Albrecht Fesler.  (Think on that a minute).

Eric:
Are you suggesting Andreas Ahlbrecht  had a real multiple personality?   Hmmm...   Wasn't there a will or probate for Albrecht as a single person?  I may be dis-remembering. 

 BTW,  I hope you do not suffer any serious discomfort as a result of your much appreciated link mistake! 

[Stophel]

How long a barrel does this gun have?

[Eric Kettenburg]

I don;t recall the exact length now but it is very similar to the MArshall rifle.

[Eric Kettenburg]

I got a note today indicating that a reference was found to a guy of this exact name mentioned as a gunmaker in Baden/Wurtemburg in 1712.  A bit early, but a start!

Chris, if you were looking at this as a German gun, where and when would you 'see' it as being made?  Your expertise here is quite valuable.   

[Stophel]

Though it can be MUCH harder to put locations on many German guns, if this gun had a European walnut stock (well, and a wood box lid...)  I would say it looks like something from the Main River area or south of there.... which, of course, is the region from which a HUGE number of German immigrants came.   If I were to see the words "A Baden" or something like that engraved on the barrel, it would not surprise me in the least.  Of course, somewhat similarly formed rifles can be found from way up in Braunschweig, where Andreas Albrecht apparently worked...  The carving designs though, look more "southern" to me, so I would strongly lean in that direction.  The design behind the cheekpiece (and the wavy rear edge of the cheekpiece) are very Viennese.  These styles moved West from Austria, but perhaps not so much north....  but again, nothing is set in stone with these things.  German/Austrian gunsmiths moved around quite a bit, taking their designs and styles with them.

If it were made here, it's a "fresh off the boat" German gunsmith that made it.