ALR Musuem Gun: Lehigh School......Unknown maker

[Hurricane ( of Virginia)]

This gun is a classic representation of the unique architecture attributed to the
"Lehigh" School of Gunsmithing. No features allow identificcation with certainty of the gunsmith or family. What is your guess and why?

Here is the URL


http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?board=225.0

Please post your comments here as a reply.
Hurricane

[Don Getz]

Wow, a real neat gun.   My guess would be Allen Martin....just joking.   Really difficult to attribute it to any of the great
Lehigh-Allentown builders.............Don

[smshea]

What a great gun! Lehigh architecture at its best! I would love a closer look at  the rod pipes.  Any wriggle work? Very hard to say who , but the architecture is better than most of the plain Lehigh guns you see. Love it.

[rich pierce]

Real clean, well worth emulating.  No clue.

[Bill of the 45th]

For me , a naive student it allows for study of the architecture, without the distraction of carving, and other distractions.  What a beauty.

Bill

[VP]

Your museum just keep getting better. This is a wonderful addition to your collection. Of course, like most, I have a real soft spot for the Lehigh's. This is a wonderful example. Your photos are outstanding. After looking this over who wouldn't want to build one just like it.

Van

[northmn]

Kind of wish I would have went a route like that for my 25 squirrel rifle.  Really wish I knew how common rifles like that were?  I have absolutely no idea who would have built it, but enjoyed viewing it.  Thank you.

DP

[JTR]

I'd say that back in the time, rifles like this were very common. In fact much more common than the carved and inlayed variety. And just because it's an unadorned rifle doesn't mean it shouldn't have good architecture.
The thing with guns like this, is that once they were used up, the stock was probably just tossed in the fire place and the barrel used for a fence post.
John

[smshea]

I agree 100% ...very common. There are allot of Lehighs floating around with no box or a simple wood box  with no carving. The vast majority of the guns Ive seen with a two piece brass box have no carving. I have allot of pictures of Lehighs that are on the plain side. You can usually pick out the traits that make it a Lehigh but they don't all have the flowing graceful lines of this gun or some of the better known published pieces out there.