Author Topic: Christian Springs architecture compared to other Lehigh Valley designs/Lancaster  (Read 1622 times)

saltland

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 Historical question...What features distinguish Christian Springs  from other Lehigh Valley rifles?And how did the design change from the French and Indian War/Revolution/Federal Period.Did Andreas Albrecht moving to Lititz in anyways change designs or influence Lancaster area guns?Or did the Moravian methods(Lititz included) exist in more isolation?About now I wish I could find he book"Moravian Gunmaking in the Revolution."
Thanks,
  Scott
« Last Edit: February 05, 2017, 08:56:11 PM by saltland »

Offline rich pierce

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Scott, another great question.  Nobody can cover all the complexities. I think if you go study Eric Kettenberg's site, you will learn a lot. 

The Moravian guns from Christians Spring share a lot of architecture and furniture and decorative features.  Most of the CS guns (Albrecht through Oerter) had a stepped wrist and robust architecture but later Oerter guns had a more Lehigh-like gentle transition from underside of lock to wrist. On the other hand there are a couple straight wristed rifles tentatively assigned to Andreas Albrecht.

William Antes had his own style, showing some influence of CS but he clearly had his own style which I think was foundational to the Bucks County school.

Albrecht's training would allow him to build in any style. I think when he went to Lititz he may have been inclined to build what customers going to Lancaster for a rifle were looking for.

Considering that other makers were building rifles within easy traveling distance, there was some sharing of features.  Some early rifles that are by unknown makers cannot be definitively assigned to any particular builder or location, but have features related to Lehigh and CS rifles.
Andover, Vermont