Wilderness Rifle Works

[chaosrob]

Hello, was hoping some of the educated people on the forum could help me out with this rifle

It is a Elk Hunter .54 Percussion Rifle made by an out of business company called Wilderness Rifle Works that was located in Indiana. I do not know a lot about these things and was hoping you could help me affix a value to it and whether or not it was worth even grabbing

More information, it is a custom ordered Elk Hunter, .54 Caliber unfired, set tigger, custom ordered fancy Maple 1x66 rifling in a 32" barrel, 13Inch LOP. I have all paperwork from OP.

Apparently they were affiliated with Deer Creek Products.

I received it in a white canvas case only with all the paperwork, order form, etc. 

Any help is appreciated

[T*O*F]

It was a decent entry level gun and is worth now about what it cost then.

[Kopfjaeger]

Sweet looking stock.

[hanshi]

I don't know about that; looks to me to be a big step up from any entry level gun.

[chaosrob]

Thanks guys.  I have had input all over the place on this thing from the original reply to my post to 1200 for it.  Figured the experts on this board would be able to narrow it down for me a bit. 

I appreciate the input

[Maalsral]

In arriving at a value, I think of it this way.  It is not a custom made gun, but a production gun with a nice stock.  Thus it's value is that of similar production guns enhanced by the nice piece of wood.

[EC121]

Looking at the architecture of the piece it has a germanic looking percussion lock and a big buttplate to handle the .54's recoil.  The generic  style puts it in the working gun category.  Being unfired doesn't add value.   My guess(and that's what it is) would be $600-$700.  You could buy a .54 TC or Lyman GPR and do the same work.  This one has a better piece of wood with a longer barrel and a better look to it .  The 13in. LOP would help shouldering it with the cold weather clothes.  Bottom line is it is worth what a person would pay for it.

[sloe bear]

I like the looks of the rifle and would love to add it to my collection if your interested in moving it.

[Curtis]

It was a decent entry level gun and is worth now about what it cost then.

TOF Speaks with straight tongue. Figure on the high side because of the nice and pretty wood.

Curtis

[chaosrob]

Thanks all. I believe I am going to put it out for 850 shipped, if it doesn't go at that price I will just hang it over the mantle

Thanks again for all the help

[Bob Roller]

Thanks all. I believe I am going to put it out for 850 shipped, if it doesn't go at that price I will just hang it over the mantle

Thanks again for all the help

Would any builder on this list furnish the parts and duplicate it for $850. That rifle should be around 100 years from now and the $850 has the life expectancy of a @$#% in a hurricane.

Bob Roller

[mountainman70]

I found ,in 2010,a near mint,unused Ithaca 54 Hawken,no box but as new anyway,online for a buy it now of 600.00,I dang sure bought it now.I kept it til 2013,sold it online for 1100.00,and the new owner is tickled.I believe this rifle should fall into that range of 900.00 to 1100.Just my opinion,if you want to move it,850 is a bargain,'specially in this caliber.Good luck,nice rifle.Dave F

[chaosrob]

Thank you sir.  I will list it out after I hear back from the two who initially contacted me, if they no longer want it.

[mountainman70]

If you do put it online,try gunsinternational.com.gunbroker not a good place to sell at a decent price,and GI charges a flat 10.00 includes 12 pics,easy to load from home pc.Good luck.Dave

[oldarcher]

I had occasion to visit Wilderness rifle works in 1996. They were in a large old barn with an accompanying outbuilding used as an assembly area. I believe that their other company was Deer Creek Products which made a variety of rifles. Some were OK and all were made well, with the rifling done on a large lathe in the barn. I met a few of the people working on the products and my son and I spent some time with them. I believe that the quality was very acceptable but the styling is somewhat questionable compared to conventional thinking. I agree that the rifle is worth about what it sold for new, but as was stated someone may fall in love with it and be willing to pay your asking price?

[T*O*F]

I believe that their other company was Deer Creek Products which made a variety of rifles

Deer Creek Products was their umbrella company.  They sold hard parts to dealers and were a warehouse distributor for CVA, Traditions, and Winchester.  They also had the rights to Hopkins & Allen, Mowry, as well as Wilderness Rifle Works and the Deer Creek Rifles.  It was owned by Irwin Fagle and his wife.  The place was hit by a tornado which did substantial damage to their facilities and limited their gunmaking activities thereafter.

All in all, a fairly large, but mostly unknown enterprise.

[D. Buck Stopshere]

Irwin Fagle had his booth next to mine in the "Lambsheds" at Friendship, IN at the NMLRA Matches. I believe he also bought from Navy Arms Company, Classic Arms Company. They offer the kits and finished pistols such as the "Duck-Foot", the "new Orleans Ace", and the "Sidewinder".  All of us lost inventory big-time after the "Flood of '98('97?)". NMLRA cancelled the National Matches that year.  Mic Koval was on my other side. Both nice folks.

[retired fella]

talked with the folks at Deer Creek several months ago.  Indication was they are
going to produce the Hopkins & Allen again.

[chaosrob]

Put it on the auction site for a penny start and a 850 BIN.  I suppose we will see what the market value is by the auction outcome.

Thanks again for the info guys