A plain Lehigh gun. In my mind, a real farmer's gun. Unsigned. Prehaps a
Moll. The architecture is sharp and striking. The barrel is a full swamped octagon 43 1/2 in. long, 58 cal. smoothbore, 31/32 in. at the breech. The buttplate is 1 3/4 in. wide and 4 5/8 in. high. There is no toe plate, rear pipe, or nose cap. The lid is a period replacement. The lock, triggerguard, and sideplate are modern replacements. The stock is untouched.
Comments:
Classic standard Lehigh/Northampton. Had one quite similar that had no rear pipe. Good classic regional architecture.
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This rifle clearly announces its area of origin by its attributes. Hope that XXXX jumps in here with a word or two about a very similar barn piece that he knows about.
Nice little rifle with a wood box that may have been robbed of its parts. Absolutely worth putting it right as there are relatively few of these guns around anymore. It was easier to throw one of these away when no longer needed, or wanted, than a golden age beauty.
I am all in favor of hanging her up on the wall with the cousins. This looks like it would have been a delight to carry in the woods and to hunt with.
Not sure, but on second look, there appears to be some very worn carving behind the cheek rest. Is it my eyes or does it have some carving?
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This one is a good example of a plain everyday rifle, with very pleasing lines.
I think what XXXX thinks might be old carving is just the grain in the wood.
All in all, even with the replacements, a pleasing looking rifle.
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Sometimes a plain rifle really isn't plain, as in this case. While lacking a patchbox and inlay work, it does have a number of attractive and very distinctive characteristics of a Lehigh rifle, including the icon-ish architecture, butt plate, flattened comb, trigger guard, and fine side plate with arrowhead finial. This is a nice example of a Lehigh rifle for the museum.
