I have never seen any of the early rifles made by my folks. I read a a description of a rifle stocked in 1840’s in “ swirly chestnut” ( no idea) and inlaid with shapes cut from mussel shells from the New River( which resembled pearl) . When you get up to close to Civil War and beyond is where you see the squirrel rifles . They operated a sawmill too and thus you always see really nice wood on their guns. They favored Birdseye on the fanciest pieces made by Joe Sr. Later in his life. They cast a particularly heavy trigger guard of brass some almost rusty red in color until about 1880 and then started using what appears purchased castings like you see today. Often they inlaid other metals into their cap boxes and inlays. Such as copper stars and copper pinwheels inlaid into the brass. Something you don’t see much. Hope this helps. Johnny Walker.
