Steel and brass furniture mix

[bowkill]

Are there any examples of steel and brass furniture guns out there? Like brass pipes with steel handguard. Been looking but not seen any..

[galudwig]

Right now over on the Contemporary Longrifle Association site on Facebook, there are pictures posted of a mixed metal Tennessee rifle by JB Duggar & E Smith. Most all the furniture is brass, but the trigger guard is iron. It is a really beautiful rifle. Elisha Bull also mixed brass and iron in his rifles. I have pictures of one that I used as inspiration for one of my current builds. It has iron butt plate, toe plate, side plates, and trigger guard with the rest of the furniture (including patchbox) in brass. There is also a mixed metal Baxter Bean rifle on the covers of Randal Pierce's book "Kentucky Rifles of the Great Smoky Mountains." That one is another awesome rifle! In that same book is a John Bull rifle mounted all in iron except for the ramrod thimbles which are brass. They are out there, just have to dig for them!

[bowkill]

I was looking through Randals book a few minutes ago and missed the one on the cover..lol

[Clark Badgett]

Off the top of my head, the NW trade guns and Leman rifles come to mind.

[smylee grouch]

May be some Henry Leman trade guns.

[elkhorne]

Now another branch question for this thread! Has anyone seen any original "Southern" style later rifles with German silver furniture or a mix of German silver and brass? Got components for each but just wondering to see if there is any historical evidence of rifles with this mixture. Thanks.
elkhorne

[David Rase]

Phillip Gillespie made a rifle with mixed hardware.  The trigger bow was steel and the grip rail was brass.
David

[David Rase]

Now another branch question for this thread! Has anyone seen any original "Southern" style later rifles with German silver furniture or a mix of German silver and brass? Got components for each but just wondering to see if there is any historical evidence of rifles with this mixture. Thanks.
elkhorne

I would not use German silver on any rifle I was building.  Just me. 
David

[Daryl]

I would not use German silver on any rifle I was building.  Just me. 
David

I agree- if a rifle is to have silver, it should be silver, not nickle.

[B.Barker]

Here's a Bull style rifle I built.

[Marcruger]

In the Piedmont area of NC there are several examples of finely built rifles with brass mounts with fine silver worked in. There is even the John Vogler presentation rifle with all silver mounts. God bless, Marc

[David Rase]

Here is my version of the Phillip Gillespie bi-metallic guard.
David

[Bob Roller]

That is a good looking trigger guard.I would think that gunmakers back in "The Day"
would use what was readily available.Necessity can be a cruel taskmaster if it took
a mixture of parts to do the job then brass and iron were the ideal materials.

Bob Roller

[Pete G.]

I have an old rifle that uses an iron butt plate, but brass for everything else.

[Marcruger]

Mr. Barker sir.  That Bull rifle is just a beauty in anyone's book.  I really appreciate the lines and the finishes.  God Bless,   Marc

[Turtle]

 Gee thanks guys!  I built my squirrell rifle on the cheap out of leftover brass and steel parts. Maybe it's not so "incorrect" as I thought.

[Lzymtlsmth]

I would believe old time smiths didn't throw much away or know what was "correct" just kinda worked out that way according to how they were taught or observed.I would also guess a lot of these rifles were " used up" , parted out or stood up in a barn to watch the decades pass after their owner passed away.
I like the effect of mixed parts, I built a Leman like that. Lets see your squirrel rifle.