help id this rifle

[dave gross]

I have been working on an 1850's era rifle to return it to shootable condition for a friend. It is a .36 caliber half stock with a 35 inch mildly tapered barrel, 7 groove rifling, and stamped on top flat M. Moxley. It has a typical percussion lock marked W. C. Biddle and Co. The lock uses a stirrup between the main spring and tumbler as is usual for this period but interestingly has no half-cock notch so the hammer nose rests on the nipple (and cap) until ready to cock and fire. The lock was badly worn and needed to have bushings in pivot holes in plate and bridle and a new stirrup to keep the main spring from hitting the bottom of lock inlet.  Triggers are single lever set type which work nicely after a cleanup. The rifle has a nice maple stock with cast pewter nose cap and very thin butt with an extreme hook brass buttplate, similar to those seen on Vincent rifles. I wonder if anyone has seen any of the markings mentioned. Additionally, how were these guns with no half-cock notch used safely?  Thanks again for the info about cleaning this old barrel which I got off the board a couple of months ago...it is now smooth inside after lots of scrubbing and infusion of many chemical compounds.

Dave Gross
Way down east in Maine

[timM]

Dave,.......Frank Sellers, "American Gunsmiths" shows this entry;  "Meshal Moxley (1809-?), Bellafontaine, Ohio, 1853d-1873. Negro gunsmiths, percussion rifles. (Hutslar)"

Hutslar shows him to have been born in Virginia.  Lists him as; working near Richmond Dale, Ross County, 1852 - 1870.  He also states the above. tim

[Levy]

I've owned about 4 original rifles (perc.) that had no safety notch.  It seems that it was fairly common not to have one.  I think that a safer way to use the rifle would be to cap it immediately before you shoot.  I hunt with an antique squirrel rifle that has no safety notch.  I was walking on a 45 degree slope with the rifle in my left hand and the butt toward my right when I slipped and instinctively reached for a cypress knee nearby with my right hand.  The open sleeve of my M-65 jacket caught the hammer and pulled it back just enough so that when it slipped, the gun discharged into the ground (thankfully).  Cap it when you are ready to shoot.  It's not really much of a disadvantage with small game.  Safety notches and flies in tumblers are a mixed blessing too.

James Levy 

[T*O*F]

Safety notches and flies in tumblers are a mixed blessing too

First off, the half-cock notch IS NOT a safety notch for the exact reason why your gun discharged.  If you are going to carry capped, it should be hammer down and your gun carried with your hand around the wrist and your thumb behind the cock.  The half cock is left over from the flintlock where the gun had to be in half cock to prime and carry it at the ready.

The gun in question has no half cock because it has a set trigger, but no fly in the tumbler.  Not having the half cock prevents sear breakage.  A cheaper or backwoods way to skin the same cat.

With a single throw set trigger, the gun will not fire unless the trigger is set.  You can cap, have hammer down, and the trigger set.  Then you only need to cock the gun and trip the front trigger to fire.

Alternatively, you can cap and cock the hammer.  Then you need to set the rear trigger and trip the front trigger before the gun will fire.  However carrying cocked has the same problem as carrying half cocked.  If it snaps, the gun will fire.