Dave,
Thanks for the info. I have not read that one. That lock quote and others I've seen really suggests the level of variability that was present in these guns even within a single maker. Even Henrys were definitely not cookie cutter guns. Some of Hanson's writings on them sorta gives the impression that they were all the same within what he defines as a pattern. I'm not sure that he intended that either. There is also a letter where Henry writes AFC asking if they can procure English made locks for him to fill their contracts. My impression is that when a shop got an order for 100 guns or more, they might be doing a little scrambling around to find parts to fill that contract. The wording of the order was vague enough that 'close enough' would count as in the game of horseshoes.
On the stock wood, almost all of the contract or trade rifles I've seen have had curly maple stocks. I say almost because a few of them had the curl painted on. The painted ones were generally later guns circa 1840 or later. A few makers did it here and there, not all. I've seen some Lemans that were unfortunately 'cleaned' to remove the painted or dyed decorations. I think curly maple stocks were very much a cultural thing in America, i.e. it just didn't 'look right' without it. You do see some exceptions here and there, but they are kind of rare. I've seen a couple of Peter Gonter's done in plain black walnut. Another thing on the maple stock issue is that orders for trade rifles often requested them stocked in wood of the 'sugar tree' and hence they actually specified sugar maple. What I know of eastern forestry suggests that the dominance or red maple in eastern forests is a fairly modern thing and that it was much less common during the period we are interested in. I wouldn't say it was never used, though.
Sean
