A few years after Darrin McDonal and I built that Documentary Copy of the Battle of New Orleans rifle for the CLA auction I was contacted by a direct descendant of John Jacob Sheetz to build him a family rifle. Miles Sheetz and his wife contacted me after reading the article about the Battle of New Orleans rifle and asked if I could build them a family rifle in the style of John Jacob Sheetz. I was happy to accept another opportunity to build a rifle in the style of the Sheetz family of gunsmiths.
I talked to Ed Rayl about getting another barrel based of the Battle of New Orleans rifle and Ed informed me that he already had one made up and he brought it to me a this past CLA show. So I was set to go on the project. The trigger guard I got from Muzzle Loader Builders supply, the butt plate is a Reeves No. 7. The Lock is a Dale Johnson that I slightly modified. The stock is a piece of Freddy Harrison's stump cut maple that I got from Nathan Cox. All of the other parts were made by me. Photography by Ric Lambert.
The stock had some spalting in the butt stock but it was solid and hard, I think that it added a little more pizzazz to the figure. This rifle is not a direct copy of the Battle of New Orleans rifle but is a blend of two rifles by John and his brother Martin. I am going to post pictures of the Martin Sheetz rifle over on the antique forum if anybody wants to see that rifle that grand rifle.
Below is a picture of Miles Sheetz and myself with the completed rifle.
Pictures of the rifle:
