Tennessee Rifle By Daniel Coats

[Daniel Coats]

Here's my interpretation of a lower east Tennessee mountain rifle. No sandpaper all hand forged hardware walnut blank hand scraped with tool marks purposely left in place on metal and wood including a forearm repair.

Rice 44 inch squirrel profile swamped 40 caliber barrel Chambers Late Ketland lock modified and Ross Dillion triggers. Total weight 6 pounds 4 ounces. Built with my famous Jack Duprey rifle on the bench the entire time supervising the project. Jack's rifle is in some of the pictures.


























Oh yeah here's the repair

[Bob Gerard]

That’s sharp!

[Bill in Md]

That is what longrifles are all about.....Simple beauty!

[Joe R]

Wow, that’s a dandy!

[Lassiter]

I like it!!

[DBoone]

That's what I call a mountain rifle.  No pretense about it.  Now we have a tool to do what needs to be done!  Thanks, Dan!  You restored my faith in gunmaking from the real school.

[Spalding]

Schwing! She’s a dandy, Daniel.

Bob

[A.Merrill]

I believe when people think of a SMR this is what they expect. Nice work.   Al

[mgbruch]

I'm going to be the bad guy, and disagree here.

I love Southern Mountain Rifles, and that's what I build as well.  I've never had the opportunity to examine original work, but study photos and measurements as much as I can.

In my study, whether it's a fully mounted gun, or a plain gun,  the builders of Southern Mountain guns ALWAYS finished their guns.  True, with a scraped and burnished finish there will always be some minor (and I mean minor) tool marks... but inletting and finishing were just as good as guns that came from Pennsylvania and other regions.

The builders of Southern Mountain rifles were not lesser artisans, who created lesser work.  While they may not have been prolific relief carvers, or engravers, they applied the same high standards of work to the architecture of their guns.  Stocks were scraped and burnished.  Hand forged components were finished with files and stones.  The library section of this forum shows many examples of original work.

If I am wrong, I'd like to know which builders of the past produced guns with such a rough finish.  And while some builders today intentionally make their arms look old and used (I do like the grey metal myself)... for the fantasy in our heads... such guns, when new, would have been given a proper finish.

Yes, I know I'll catch the business for this post.  And if someone builds a gun the way they want, it's nobody else's business... until you post it on a public forum.  I just don't believe we should portray the Southern Mountain rifles as less than they were.

 

[Pete G.]

I agree. A little too rough for my taste.

[Ted Kramer]

I think it’s a cool rifle Dan. Did you make all the hardware?
Ted K

[recurve]

NICE ANVIL  and flinter 

[wolf]

i am no professional builder but i also agree, a little to crude for me, but to each his own,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[Stoner creek]

Note that the word Daniel used in his post was “Interpretation”. This should give the maker license create something that his eye sees. I question exactly what these guns looked like brand new. Nobody living today knows that for sure. On the converse, perhaps the contemporary maker wanted to make something that looked well used and abused. I have a substantial collection of flintlock rifles that look either spotless brand new perfect, used and cared for, or highly distressed looking like they need to be refurbished. This is the fun part of contemporary Longrifle collecting. Everyone can be right!!
W

[Daniel Coats]

Thanks everyone for the comments. This build was never meant to produce a shiny new gun. It does look a lot like the original owned by my friend Jack Duprey. it also looks a lot like many of the 200 year old original guns I've personally handled over the years. So yes it is my personal interpretation of a 200 year old antique in shooting condition.
The hand forged components for this build using the time honored heat beat and repeat method include the fore end cap, thimbles, side plate, trigger guard, two piece butt plate, toe plate, and even the copper rivets. I drove to Indiana for the anvil.

I still have a bit more touch up to do in a week or so but it's essentially done just the way I wanted it. Probably spoken for to be delivered to the CLA show but we'll see later for sure.

All comments are welcome but let's be polite about it!

[Ross Dillion]

Fantastic job. I love the look. You must’ve had those triggers for a while. I haven’t built them in that particular style in years.

[BOB HILL]

Come looking rifle, Dan. Thanks for sharing.
Bob

[Daniel Coats]

Fantastic job. I love the look. You must’ve had those triggers for a while. I haven’t built them in that particular style in years.

Thanks Ross this rifle was started when I lived in Colorado and I stopped building because of my move to Tennessee for almost three years. I still have 2 more of your nice triggers in the box ready to go!

[Bill in Md]

Don't be discouraged by the naysayers........Their eyes have been tainted by computer cut stocks and cookie cutter "kits" that lack imagination and effort, and the pleasures of easy living in general.


 In a time when men actually had to butcher or hunt all their meat instead of buying it in blister packs....When they spent their summer months putting up stove wood with crosscut saws and axes instead of having a company fill their oil tank....When the threat of hostile encounters was real as opposed to the relative safety of today....When their homes and cabins were built with their own hands from raw materials that they had to gather, rather than cul-de-sac-ed McMansions, their approach to gun building ran in same vein......Functional Simplicity!

Little thought would have been given to achieving that perfect color in a stock that would wow the neighbors. Since many could not afford a "store bought" piece they would use their knowledge of blacksmithing and wood craft to make their  own tool (yes folks, guns were tools then and still are to some of us), no different than an axe, a plough shear,or a horseshoe. If a stock was broken, the old parts were fitted into a new one and generally were not polished up, blued or browned. These were people that cared little if a tool mark was present,  the stock had an imperfection, or the iron trigger guard had a rust patina on it, so long as it was balanced and shot well.

They understood that nothing in this world is perfect. Not to say that they lacked an understanding of functional beauty. Their rifles represented true frontier art, as opposed to the haughty window dressings coming out of the big cities of that time. I submit that the gun the OP built here is more in line with the vast majority of guns of that era, than not. I am installing a brass patch box on a gun for a friend, but never would have one on a gun I owned as they simply take away from the real beauty of a rifle. Kinda like a beautiful woman that has tattos and piercings on an otherwise beautiful body.

The cabin we live in was built in the late 1700's. It is not level anymore and the logs have grayed with age, but it's function and beauty are a testament to when men really understood art and function! I submit it will be here long after many of the gypsum boarded, plastic sheathed homes will be bull dozed for the latest and greatest piece of eye candy.

[oldtravler61]

  Daniel I like it an as you know I have been friends with Jack Duprey for almost 50 years. He installed in me a longtime ago that fancy rifles didn't shoot any better than a plain Jane mountain gun. If you've ever shot against him he'll prove that. I really like what you have done. You can't please everyone and really does it even matter ? I think not.! So keep building what you like.!!

[Craig Wilcox]

Beautiful work - congrats!

[mountainman70]

Hi Dan
I like the overall look of this sweet mountain gal.
I, too, like to build these guns, and seldom build same twice. Exception being the 2 walnut ones i posted a while back
Just wanted to see how close to identical i could build.
When we build our own style, most often they follow what our old timers did
Thats how they developed their style
Keep buulding long as ya can, bro
Im backing off because of eyes and hands
But, boy, I enjoyed getting here!!
Very best regards
Dave on the Mountain

[axelp]

Daniel, I think it's an outstanding example, and when the new owner handles it, he/she will be able to feel the heartbeat of the builder for many many years to come. The workmanlike manner of construction and the aging make it special. Imperfections are indications that a skilled human built this gun. The beautiful and finely ornate guns made by hand, ALSO display the fingerprints of the maker... We can admire both--- I do. There is really no way to fully duplicate what human hands do.

Even with CNC kits, it takes human hands to breathe life into them.

well done sir

KenP

[JTR]

Obviously the C&C wonders of the day have a large following, and more power to them. But as nice as they are, to me they are just cold, cookie cutter twins of one another with no personality. Sort of like a new Corvette, nice, but ho-hum, one of many.

This rifle has personality, class, and the authenticity look of a 150 year old rifle that has had care, but not petted.

Obviously, I like it!
John

[Tony N]

Very nice! Looks like a shooter

Tony