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English Sporting Rifle
circa 1775
Click on
image for larger view
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This is an English influenced
rifle. The barrel is a swamped .58 caliber 38" long.
The stock is curly maple with raised carving. The lock is by
Chambers. It is mounted with brass hardware. The patchbox has silver
drapes on either side. The star inlay is made of ivory and black
horn. The barrel was fire blued and the rest of the gun has a
slightly aged finish. The owner wanted a rifle for an upcoming bear
hunt, hence the engraving on the sideplate. The words "ISӒ
VOIMA" means "strong father" in Finnish, the owners
ancestry.
Here are the owners comments
I received:
"I love the engraving. I look at it as
a whole, and then break it down to individual lines. Love to
hold it, sight along it, dry fire it with flint striking
frizzen. I have about 100 flints that size, and am too lazy to
make a wood copy. Again, can't believe how that trigger is an
excellent balance between safety and ease of shooting.
In my mind I have hunted and shot bear, elk, and moose with that
gun. Seen the animal, the sight trigger, felt the flash of the
pan and the whap of the round ball hitting the animal. I
have imagined go and no go shooting situations. In short, am
having a blast and have not even shot it yet. Thanks again,
Clay. Will let you how it patterns after I find the pet load. I
am hoping for a 3 inch group at a 100 yards. John"
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Below is a photo of the owner on a hunt in Canada.
Click on picture to
enlarge.
Owner's comments on the hunt:
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"We inched over a hill, knowing
bears were in the area. There he was, looking
about 6’3”. We let the truck side back and
around the corner, then stalked up to take
another look. The bear looked like a shooter,
so I set up on my shooting sticks. He was
moving towards us. I waited, the tension and
excitement building. He came over the crest of
the hill, sniffing, then looking right at us,
freezing all movement, clearly set to flee. I
knew I had no time. I squeezed off a shot and
he was lost in the smoke. We let things settle
down for about 45 minutes and then began to
track him. It took us about a half hour to
follow the trail the 70 yards to the end where
he lay. Turned out he was bigger than we
thought, he went 6’8” squared, and his skull was
18 3/4”. He was in the record book, the minimum
skull being 17”. It was really exciting. How I
love to hunt!" |
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