difference in terminology

[whitebear]

Ok as my old bachelor farmer used to say "I am going to skin my ignorance".  What is the difference in a Southern rifle and a Poor Boy?  Are they both names for the same thing or is there actually a difference?

[Mauser06]

Maybe I'm wrong...


To me, poor boy, barn guns and schimmels are all kinda the same concept. Usually no(minimal)  furniture, no inlays, no engraving etc.


Southern guns are just that....guns from the south. 

[Ky-Flinter]

"Southern rifle" is a pretty broad term.  Rifles from the various regions of the south have different characteristics, but in general southern guns have iron furniture, usually walnut stocks, but sometimes maple or cherry, with more drop in the butt than say a Lancaster rifle.

A "Poor Boy", aka Barn Gun or Schimmel, could come from any region.  They are very plain, usually made without a butt plate, toe plate, or ramrod entry pipe, and a washer instead of a large side plate.

I think the term Poor Boy is more often used in the south, while Barn Gun and especially Schimmel is more often used up north.

-Ron

[Marcruger]

I personally don't like the "poor boy" term.  I think "working grade" is a better description.

Saying a plain unadorned rifle defines "Southern" is just wrong too.  Pull out Bill Ivey's book on NC Longrifle schools.  There are some amazingly adorned rifles in there.  Hardly "poor".  Especially the totally silver mounted John Vogler rifle in Salem. 

Best wishes,   Marc

[BOB HILL]

I think the term poor boy is a fairly recent term for a plain rifle. If my memory hasn't failed me, Mr. John Braxton told me once that these plain rifles were historically referred to as common rifles. And yes y'all, Southern covers a lot of ground from very plain to very fancy.
Bob

[Greg Pennell]

I think the “poor boy/ barn gun/schimmel/common rifles” are some of the most beautiful...form following function distilled down to its essence. Rifles that stand completely on their architecture, stark and proud, in all their varieties North and South. Definitely on my build list.

Greg

[Mauser06]

Greg, I agree.  When done right, they definitely spark something with me. 

[homerifle]

Fancy, plain where ever they were found, over the door in the kitchen or in the barn. The southern rifle from this area was always called the "Home rifle".

[jerrywh]

 A southern rifle is a poor boy in Georgia or south of the Mason Dixon line.

[Mark Elliott]

".....but in general southern guns have iron furniture, usually walnut stocks, but sometimes maple or cherry, with more drop in the butt than say a Lancaster rifle.

I must disagree with the above statememt.   I like iron mounted rifles, but they are primarily found in a narrow band that runs from the middle of the Valley of Virginia down to the Smokey Mountains (NC and TN).    That leaves a lot of the South left.  The majority of southern rifles are brass mounted, the earliest ones very similar to a Lancaster, York, or Reading rifle as that is where a number of the gunsmiths trained.   As was said before,  a Southern Rifle is one that was made in the South.    There are no general characteristics to a Southern rifle.   There as similar characteristics to Southern guns of a particular region or maker,  but you can't generalize about the whole South.

As to a poor boy,  I think that is more of a contemporary invention. 

[little joe]

Mark I agree, a poor boy is modern term. How do you feel the iron mounted  mentioned should be refered to.

[Mark Elliott]

I would say an iron mounted rifle in the style of " "  (ex E. TN or SW VA) and list the mounts included or excluded.   I am not sure that "poor boy" or "southern mountain rifle" are really all that descriptive.    I could say the same thing for the ubiquitous "Virginia Rifle".