General discussion > Contemporary Longrifle Collecting

CLA Auction Rifles

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G-Man:
Many of you have seen the CLA auction items shown in the current issue of Muzzle Blasts.  There is a fantastic (yeah, I'm biased) iron mounted gun by Mr. Pratt, a classic early Pennsylvania rifle by Jack Haugh, and a neatly done rifle based on RCA 42 by Larry Williams and Mike Miller. (And a nice pouch by Mr. Tim Albert as well!).  They are all beautiful pieces. 

Some of you have inquired on here in the past about Early Rustic Arms - so I just wanted to point out if you don't know, that Larry Williams owns and operates Early Rustic Arms.  On his guns, he offers a carving package by Mike Miller for what seems to me a very reasonable price.  The auction gun is a really fine example of their collaborative work.

Guy

t.caster:
Yes, they are all beautiful rifles. I didn't connect the name of Williams with ERAs, because his guns are usually very....well...RUSTIC. Not that there is anything wrong with that! They really did a great version of RCA#42! One of my favorites, that I will have to recreate someday! Just how reasonably priced is there colaberation???????

Ian, I can't help but think your beauty should have a perc. lock instead of flint, due to it's later architecture & furniture. Again...not that there is anything wrong with that. I prefer flint anyway! Congrats on all the publicity you are getting, and knowing your talent, it is well deserved!

Pratt:
Tom,
  I appreciate your comment on the lock because it gives me the opportunity to explain a couple things -  first a little background on the gun. Those of us who are familiar with the late flint period guns of Central Virginia will probably recognize a lot of the elements I stole when building this rifle. For those who are not, take a look at the book "Gunsmiths of Virginia" by James Whisker and you will see a bunch of flintlock rifles with these elements.  The gun itself is a hybrid and has to be looked at as a contemporary rifle, and here comes the exlanation part.
 The rifle I made is in part based on brass mounted guns made around Staunton Virginia, where now the CLA is based. I thought it would be cool to tie a bunch of ideas together for this one. If you go a little to the south west , during the same time period iron mounted flintlock guns were being made, and since that's what I do I took elements from these guns and threw them in the blender with the rest of it. I came up with a "contemporary" rifle  which seemed to really suit the situation well, a modern gun with it's roots right where the CLA is located.
  It is hard for me to explain what I am trying to do most of the time but I have been concerned lately that some of what I am doing will be misrepresented -  let me try to explain this a little better. Most of what I do i guess is my interpretation of original pieces and sometimes even that is a stretch in the authenticity department to say the least, particularly with the earlier rifles.  I do make some guns that are true to their ancestors form but I don't want to see the others misrepresented as being historically correct, again the "early" guns in particular. A good example of this would be the last set of pictures I posted a few weeks back, the gun definitely has some features you'd recognize as "early" but on the whole it's not based in fact. I am working on some different ideas for the early guns that ought to be interesting, more on that another time
  Guy I didn't mean to de rail your topic, had the urge to express myself. I had the good fortune to be able to see all the auction items at Martin's Station, Va a couple months ago, I know it's always good stuff, but man just outstanding work. The good / evil twin knives from Billy Heck and Joe Seabolt ought to be sold as a set, I think if you separate them the planets might crash into the sun

t.caster:
Thanks for the explanation, Ian. You done well, lad! It's fun to combine different aspect from the same period and region. It's like if you were a young Journeyman working in the area back then and trying to get established and make a name for yourself. You would likely use techniques from the various builders you learned from and add some new twists of your own.

don getz:
Ian.....I like what you are doing, in that you are putting a little of "Ian Pratt" into every gun. not necessarily a true copy
of anything, but your interpretation of something.  More of a true contemporaty gun, but what makes them stand out is
the quality of your work...outstanding.........look forward to seeing next week......Don

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