George Shreyer (Shroyer) inspired York co. Colonial

[okawbow]

I saw an article in an old Muzzle Blasts about a  rifle attributed to George Shreyer. I really liked the lines on the rifle, and decided my first real longrifle would be as close a copy as I could get from the pictures. The original is pictured at Parker firearms website. I want to thank them for posting pictures I used to help me in my build. I ordered a 48" barrel from Charles Burton, 1 1/16" at the breach, tapering to 7/8, and flaring to 15/16" as the article described. I used a Davis Colonial American 1 screw lock. I used the widest buttplate I could find, (2 1/8th"), and a nice walnut blank from Dunlap woodcrafts. I made the 1 piece nosecap, and thimbles, as well as the tapered ramrod. The trigger guard was bent, brazed and filed to closely match the original. The patchbox came from TOW, and I filed and pierced it to look more like the original. I will have it engraved later.

I finished the wood with a couple coats of linseed oil followed by 6 coats of my home made turpene violin varnish. I still need to let the varnish harden a few weeks, and rub it down to finish.

I don't own a good camera, and the following pictures are very poor quality, but I hope they give a good idea of the basic shape and "feel" of the rifle.
Chuck
Here is my 19 year old critic, Tommy.
Colonial York Co. rifle 3 by okawbow, on Flickr

Colonial York Co. rifle 2 by okawbow, on Flickr

P7310580 by okawbow, on Flickr

Colonial York Co. rifle 5 by okawbow, on Flickr

Colonial York Co. rifle 6 by okawbow, on Flickr

Colonial York Co. rifle 7 by okawbow, on Flickr

Colonial York co. rifle 9 by okawbow, on Flickr

Colonial York co. rifle 10 by okawbow, on Flickr

Colonial York co. rifle 11 by okawbow, on Flickr

Colonial rifle rear sight by okawbow, on Flickr

[Tom Currie]

That looks to be a very nice rifle for your first effort. It's always good to hear whem someone does some research first.

[Larry Luck]

Here's a link you might find interesting:

http://emuseum.history.org/view/objects/asitem/classification@15/31/title-desc;jsessionid=4D4B5919BEBA0D4C38CE89E6A54211EF?t:state:flow=2c13b109-4c3c-4cbe-bcd9-96df39348b64

Very interesting rifle whose owner (Jacob Bower) was a distinguished Revolutionary War officer, as detailed in the description.

Larry Luck

[okawbow]

Thanks for the link, Larry. I had thought this rifle was likely made in York co., instead of Berks. My GGG Grandfather was born in York Co., and fought in the AWI in 1777 at Brandywine, at the age of 16. I wanted to build a rifle that he could have used. I was not aware that the original had a cherry stock. It looked like walnut from the pictures.

I enjoyed making this rifle. I will use it as a shooter in club matches. It balances offhand, wonderfully. The weight is 10#4ozs, 54 cal.

[rich pierce]

That's a great early rifle to study and you did a very credible job.

[okawbow]

For those that want to know how a Charles Burton barrel shoots; here is what happened today in this rifles first outing.
Won the 25 and 50 yard offhand club match, and the 25 yard offhand squirrel match. Didn't even have to move the sights. Haven't even worked up a load yet. Just used 80 grs 3f, .530 ball and a heavy denim spit patch. Thanks Charlie!

The Davis lock worked great also, with fast ignition every time.

[okawbow]

Got the patchbox back from Williams engraving in Johnston City, IL today. Thought he did a nice job. Looks just like the original engraving.

engraved patchbox york rifle by okawbow, on Flickr