Earlier I posted on the Gun Building section about my ancestor's rifle. John Palm#4. For the past 15 years I've been doing some research regarding the Gunmaker John Palm. Here is some of the details I can share with this rifle. When I get a minute, I'll post some details of another one of his rifles that I own so more people can enjoy it.
John Palm was born in 1781 and died in 1865. He is buried along with his wife, daughter, father, mother and some of his other siblings and descendants at St. Daniels Lutheran Church in Robesonia, Pennsylvania. John Palm's father, Johannes Palm was an elder in the St. Daniels Lutheran Church and was on the board to build what was once called the old corner church. His grandfather was Dr. Johannes Palm, founder of Palmyra, Pennsylvania. Dr. Palm was a surgeon during the battle of Brandywine and served with General George Washington. The Palm family has a direct link to George Washington and after the Revolutionary War when Washington was touring through Berks and Dauphin County he stopped and visited with the Palm family. The Gunmaker John Palm was married to his wife Maria Eva (Leininger) Palm, on December 3, 1801, at Trinity Tulpehocken Reformed Church, Jackson Township, Lebanon County, (What use to be Dauphin County in 1801) Pennsylvania. He is believed to have lived in the Heidelburg Township area of Berks County, near the small town of Stochsburg, according to census records which indicate the Palm family was living there and in Dauphin County. In 1840, John Palm, gunmaker shows up in the Womelsdorf census records and lived there with his wife and daughter until his death in 1865.
My family history stated John Palm had a connection to John Bonewitz but his building style does not show any comparison or traits that he would have been an apprentice. After some help from Brian LaMaster, LaMaster Arms, there is a believed connection with the building style and traits with a recent rifle LaMaster Arms has listed on their YouTube page from gunmaker George Feder. Feder also used a patch box that John Bonewitz used on a couple of his rifles. Could this be a connection between Bonewitz and Palm? No idea. I don't have anything showing that John Palm apprenticed under George Feder but these two rifles do have some comparisons, maybe after some more comparison with other rifles from these two gunmakers there could be a better final decision made.
As you see in the photos, this rifle has had a busy life. It is a large and heavy rifle; it appears to be a match rifle. The barrel is 44 1/8 long with "CH" stamped on the bottom. Breech width is 1.22 inches and tapers down to 1.15 inches at the muzzle. The bore is rifled at .489 diameter. There is evidence the barrel was bored out and re-sleeved during its life so the original bore diameter could have been bigger than what it currently is. The barrel is held into the stock with brass wedges. The barrel has a silver band inlayed into it along with a decorative brass plate with his name and the rifle number engraved into it. There are brass star inlays down the side of the stock. He continued to use this style of star in a lot of his rifles. What is a specific characteristic that I've seen is the star has flat ends on each side. It should be noted that the George Feder's rifle I mentioned above has the same style of star inlay. The rifle supports a Ketland lock and was never converted to percussion. The butt plate is 4 3/4 inches high and 1 3/16 inches wide. Trigger Guard has a common Berks County profile and is 7 3/8 long. The trigger guard has a decorative filing done to the bow which is unique. There is a distinct Arrowhead shaped trigger plate which measures 3 3/8 inches long and 7/8 inches at the widest point. LOP is 12 3/4 inches. Ramrod pipes are long. The entry pipe is one long piece of brass and is 13 7/8 long and extends the entire bottom of the forearm to the front of the trigger guard. He has used this type in other rifles. The middle and front pipes are just a hair over 3 inches long and gradually get larger toward the muzzle. just over 3/8 inches in diameter. The diameter at the wrist is just under 5 1/2 inches. The patch box is unique with a dramatic flared lid which is slightly domed to the contour of the stock. The patch box has his distinct engraving style. He wasn't a professional engraver but got better in time. Weighs in just over 15 pounds total. As you can see in the photos, this rifle was used.... Alot. The evidence of wear from the bore to the lock and the stock repair under the barrel shows this wasn't a wall hanger but used which gives this a great story. What I like is how the frizzen was resoled and even after it was fixed you can see evidence that the repair gave it some additional life but you can see it was shot a lot after the repair. There is a piece of linen probably held in place with hide glue to repair a crack in the wood under the barrel, probably from the ramrod pipes expanding over time alone with the heavy barrel resting on a tree stump during a shooting match. Just a guess. The brass nose cap has an open front like a Lehigh and this one has a repair of pewter melted over the stock to probably give the front some strength due to the crack. Just a guess. One thing I did find that made me laugh a little, was the head of the bolt that holds the main spring, has two filed edges on it. The photo shows it. Well, I found that when I put the lock back together, those filed edges needed to be turned to a specific position so the lock would fit against the barrel. The head of the bolt rests right up against the barrel flat. The breech plug is not the original plug I would guess since it was rebored. You can see the barrel tang profile is not the same as the wood profile when it was originally inlaid. I hope you enjoy, this guy has a great story to tell.
