Old Holston Gun

[Dan'l 1946]

Wondering if anyone has any photographs of the Old Holston Rifle? The only ones I have are in an old issue of Muzzleblasts. Thanks.   Dan

[galudwig]

You might try a PM to Ian Pratt. He had the rifle in hand and even had it on display on his table at the CLA Show back in 2010, I believe. He built his own interpretation of the a rifle off of the original as well. I unwittingly got pictures of both rifles together. I didn't learn the significance of the "Holston Gun" until many years later.

[Dan'l 1946]

Thank you. Your photo is very helpful. I picked up a .60 caliber 44" barrel from a special run that Rice made a couple of years ago and I have a blank of rock hard sugar maple that I bought from Allan Sandy about 20 years ago all with the idea of making an interpretation of the old rifle. Anything forward of the entry pipe would have to be speculative anyway. I think the maple is probably seasoned enough to use now.   Dan

[galudwig]

I'm building one around a Rice .60 cal. Early Dutch profile barrel. At 41", it's a tad shorter than the original, but thats okay. I'm forging my own hardware for it too. The triggerguard (on the original) is unique in that the tang screw threads into a rearward return on the bow instead of into a separate trigger plate. The forward finial may have been forge welded to the front of the bow. That's what Ian concluded after examining it closely.

Art Riser posted pictures of Ian's rifle on the Contemporary Blog several years ago. Here are a couple pictures I saved from the Blog (photo credits Ian Pratt and Art Riser).