Southgate

[zimmerstutzen]

I am a sucker for the poor old parts guns.  Many years ago, I traded for a rather bubba'd looking gun with a shotgun style stock that is profiled more like a modern bolt action.  There is an inlet for a back action lock, a drum and nipple and a straight round barrel about 30 inches long and 1 inch diamter.  The top of the barrel is stamped Southgate in script.  it appers to be a 38 caliber rifle barrel.  There are what appears to be two intitials in front of the name Southgate.  one is an "R"  the other perhaps a "W"    There is also a number "57"

It is certainly no long rifle.   no inlays etc.     The only Southgate I find a reference to made some pretty fancy stuff.   

Is it the same Southgate?  any other infor would be appreciated

[Ben I. Voss]

Think I remember seeing a Roy Southgate rifle just like that on TOW's websight a few years ago. He must have made a few plain shooters like that? Someone should know more.

[Mike Brooks]

Most of the Southgate stuff I have seen have been on the plain side. At #57 yours is pretty early, so have some odd characteristics may be normal for that period in his career. I've not heard of any other Southgate gun builders other than Roland Southgate.

[smokinbuck]

At the least you have a Royland Southgate barrel. The 38 caliber is not surprising or unusaual, I have a Southgate pistol in 38 caliber. Your #57 indicates that, at least the barrel, was made and/or marked in 1950. The description you give is not consistant with what he typically built, unless it was done as an order from a client. Even his very plain rifles were in the style of the kentucky Pennsylvania longrifles but with a roman nose butt. Royland lived outside of Franklin Tenn on a farm called Rebel Hill and died around 1979 +/-. He had a brother, B.W. Southgate who also built a few guns and lived in Inglewood Tenn, near Nashville. Southgate rifles and pistols are very collectible and some of them fetch some handsome prices. Hope this helps a little. I thought about it a little more and perhaps you have a B.W. Southgate rifle. Royland usually only put an R before his name but Bailey used BW.
Mark

[Birddog6]

From what info I have found, the Royland Southgate rifles were stamped R.Southgate like on this lock & barrel.  Most of them were plain rifles, a few of them fancy, the fancier ones I have found having very nice wood, allot of inlays, but little or no engraving or carvings.. Most of the plain production rifles were serial numbered.  Also Royland & his apprentices made allot of the rifles for the Daniel Boone series. These movie prop rifles were not serial numbered & not stamped on the barrels, but the typical Southgate locks & stamp on them. Same prop rifles had no vent hole in the barrels, and had fake RR's. I use to have one of them in .40 cal & sold it several years ago. Mine was supposedly made by Allen Etheridge when he was a apprentice of Southgates, according to one of the guys that was there when they made the series & was in a few shots in them & he also ID'd the rifle & maker for me.   I was not impressed with the lock on the rifle, but the barrel was Excellent.  I changed the one I had to shootable by drilling the vent hole in it & drilling out the RR hole to make it hold a full RR & squirrel hunted with the rifle.  Here are a couple of photos of 2 Southgate rifles.  I apologize for the poor quality of the photos, but didn't realize they were bad til days after I had left the rifles.