An (unfinished) American Longrifle

[Johann]

In the township building of Delaware township, (Dingman's Ferry, Pa), there is a curly maple blank for a longrifle, along with a barrel and flintlock hammer, that was found in the woods of Dingman's Ferry around the early 1900's. The parts are said to have been found in the ruins of a gunsmith shop that had been run by Joseph Meekins. Has anyone ever heard of/seen the work of Joseph Meekins, or any other N.E. Pa. rifles for that matter?

P.S. - The barrel is stamped at the breech with a 'P' inside a circle.

[Avlrc]

A circle surrounding a P sounds like a modern day proof mark on a rifle barrel.

[Collector]

Without a photograph, it's all just speculation and a barrel is just a barrel, unless it's in a stock. 

Governments have been stamping their property, firearms and parts, for, literally, hundreds of years..  Civilian gunsmith's shop have almost always had lots of different parts, laying about, of unknown origins, including surplus military.

Anything is possible.  It could have been a Civil War barrel and then again, it could be from just about anything prior to the early 1900's.   

I love seeing stuff that people find in and around abandoned buildings and properties and it would be neat if we could get a photo. 

[jdm]

George Tryon used a P inside a circle on some of his trade guns. If you could see it clear it was more like a starburst  with a P inside.  I'm not sure if I'm remembering right but I think Deringer used it on trade guns also. I have a 1790's fowler with a proof  mark that is an oval with a P on the inside. A large number of early American fowlers had imported barrels.

[JV Puleo]

Birmingham private proof marks are a P in an oval and a V in an oval, quite consciously done that way to ape London marks which are a V and a GP in ovals. The deception worked then and still works today because about 90% of collectors (and auction houses) still can't tell the difference.