Author Topic: Another great looking rifle for your viewing pleasure (Read 9697 times)

Dennis Glazener · « **on:** July 17, 2012, 12:41:24 AM »

JDM will provide some text later on. Meanwhile here are some photos. Who will be first to ID it.
Dennis

Tom Currie · « **Reply #1 on:** July 17, 2012, 12:44:38 AM »

Leonard Reety

Dennis Glazener · « **Reply #2 on:** July 17, 2012, 12:47:03 AM »

And the winner is Tom Currie (but he can't spell

) All of 3 min including typing the post.

Dennis

Tom Currie · « **Reply #3 on:** July 17, 2012, 12:50:38 AM »

I was going to say Leonard probably couldn't either but he left us a ledger that proves otherwise.

Bill of the 45th · « **Reply #4 on:** July 17, 2012, 01:00:28 AM »

Mmmmmmm, Eye Candy

Bill

rich pierce · « **Reply #5 on:** July 17, 2012, 01:19:07 AM »

Amazing how low the relief carving is on reedy and Bonewitz rifles. This one is a real dandy.

Buck · « **Reply #6 on:** July 17, 2012, 01:41:35 AM »

Jim,
Spectacular, I have no other words. By the way I would have hoped to have seen some lawn in the picture with that beauty.
Buck

mr. no gold · « **Reply #7 on:** July 17, 2012, 02:42:25 AM »

Great rifle; great condition!!! Thank you for letting us have a look at it.
Dick

JTR · « **Reply #8 on:** July 17, 2012, 03:11:16 AM »

Wow! Another great rifle to enjoy!
Thanks for the pictures, as I've always admired Reedy's work, plus this one looks to be in great condition as well.

John

MarkEngraver · « **Reply #9 on:** July 17, 2012, 03:22:36 AM »

Thanks for sharing.
A true pleasure to look at.

Mark

jdm · « **Reply #10 on:** July 17, 2012, 03:47:53 AM »

Dennis Thank you for doing the hard work.

Buck, I was afraid the dry grass might scar the rifle so I laid it on brick thought it was softer.
Thanks for the comments guys. When I saw Bucks fine rifle I thought this one would complement it well. I always liked Reedy's work and this one came available about five years ago. The gentleman who owned it was very generous in working with me . The rifle is pretty straight with no wood replaced that I can see. It's not one of Reed'ys fancier guns but it's all there. The carving doesn't have much wear. The other collector acquired it from the SouthWest. Thanks again for looking. JIM

HIB · « **Reply #11 on:** July 17, 2012, 05:14:28 AM »

Gentlemen, This is a late example [1815-1809] attributed to Reedy while he was still in the Womelsdorf shop of John Bonewitz. He is no longer using the surround molding around the lock area found on his earlier guns. The patch box finial is a rendition of Bonewitz' earliest work. Get the proper angle and you will see the outline of a head in the center of the finial. First find the nose and the rest will be obvious but you may need to rotate the photo.

Fine gun and should set well with other examples of Reedy's work. McKenzie, you have done well. Regards, HIB

jdm · « **Reply #12 on:** July 18, 2012, 12:23:18 AM »

Thanks, Henry
If I remember right in reading some of your research didn't Mr. Reedy enlist during the war of 1812? That would be about the time this gun was made. I noticed the patch box finial on my gun is reverse of the two you pictured. Is that common? JIM

Eric Smith · « **Reply #13 on:** July 18, 2012, 12:46:09 AM »

Thanks for posting the pics. That is one good looking rifle to my eye.

Buck · « **Reply #14 on:** July 18, 2012, 02:12:45 AM »

Jim,
That's a great question, I have a very early Berks (Reading attributed) Co. rifle that has the finial falling towards the butt moulding also. It seems that there is only a handfull that point in the downward position. In review I have only found 4 others.
Buck

HIB · « **Reply #15 on:** July 18, 2012, 04:35:01 AM »

Hi Jim, I have a good number of reverse pattern examples. So the answer is yes. I can just see it happening as the original gun was probably sold and when the maker took the wooden pattern off the wall to use on the next gun he couldn't recall up from down. Your finial pattern and the one most often attributed to Reedy look terrific either way. Best to you, HIB

aaronc · « **Reply #16 on:** July 18, 2012, 05:33:42 PM »

Thats a beautiful gun,........now for a rookie question. Is the inlaid star made out of brass ?

Buck · « **Reply #17 on:** July 18, 2012, 05:57:50 PM »

Aaron welcome, Silver.
Buck

aaronc · « **Reply #18 on:** July 18, 2012, 06:03:37 PM »

10-4, couldn't tell for sure.

Thanks

jdm · « **Reply #19 on:** July 18, 2012, 09:56:18 PM »

That's a beautiful gun,........now for a rookie question. Is the inlaid star made out of brass ?
Aaron welcome, Silver
Buck

Buck, Your right . aaronc, Your kinda right. There are engraved lines coming out from the center of the star . They are a gold color most of it is worn off . The ring around the screw is also a gold color. I've never seen anything like it before. I am some what color blind so some of these things throw me a little. I had always felt the color was original with the gun. Maybe Henry can shed some light on this. JIM

HIB · « **Reply #20 on:** July 19, 2012, 01:31:07 AM »

Jim, Been reviewing all the posts complementing your gun and realized I missed your first question regarding Reedy and the war of 1812. We know Reedy was still with Bonewitz in Pine Grove in 1814 when he marched to Reading to enlist in the defense of Baltimore. He was accompanied by two of Bonewitz' sons and Henry Eckler, another Pine Grove gunsmith. Whether they carried their rifles or not is not known. The records provide the dates, length of march, time of service and pay. Pretty interesting stuff.

Regarding the star on the cheek piece. I have seen them in brass and silver. They were quite common and available from a local whitesmith or silversmith.

The real interesting part about Womelsdorf hardware was the consistency of each parts size. I have reviewed butt plates, side plates and trigger guards that were interchangeable from Bonewitz' earliest guns to Reedy's made 25 and 30 years later. The shop must have used Bonewitz' original molds during all those years or they made up 100's from the get go. HIB

James · « **Reply #21 on:** July 19, 2012, 01:52:36 AM »

That is a great gun. Thanks for the look.

Dennis Glazener · « **Reply #22 on:** July 22, 2012, 10:11:57 PM »

Close-up of the star.

Buck · « **Reply #23 on:** July 23, 2012, 01:31:09 AM »

Looks like maybe a deposit of linseed oil, or a stain of some kind. We use linseed oil on our levels at work and a lot of time on the newer levels that type of look will deposit on the stainles steel rails. Beautiful rifle.
Buck

News:

Author Topic: Another great looking rifle for your viewing pleasure (Read 9697 times)

MarkEngraver