Minnesota Rifles

[chuckpa]

I just completed building a Ohio rifle with a 32 inch barrel in .32 cal. I would like to know if this would be the type of rifle that was also used in Minnesota in the 1840 to 1860 time period. My son and his family live in the Brainerd area and I was thinking about making a rifle for him and his 3 boys.
Thanks for any information you can give me.

[pathfinder]

By that time all gun's were going EVERYWHERE! Most of the "School designations" were dissappearing with the advent of remington supplying hardware stores coast to coast with barrels,hard or soft,and goulsher producing lock's at an alarming rate.

The "Burg's" in Tennessee and Pennsylvania were still producing thier particular style,ie;Bedford,Bean,Gillespie and such,but in other parts of the country, half stock percussion were all the "rage". Inexpensive and quick to build,and VERY accurate and easy to maintain and shoot! Think Early Montgomery Ward's!

I picked up a book"Greasy Cove and Unicoi County Tennessee guns,and they are the '40's-'70's era. REALLY COOL!!!! And,you dont have to worry about all the thread counters "going nuts"  on you because you have a bullet board on your pouch strap!

[Sir Michael]

The Museum of the Fur Trade Quarterly Vol. 44 No. 1 has an interesting piece of correspondence from Alfred Brunson the Indian Agent at LaPonte, WI dtd. January 10, 1843 you might find of value.  The relevant part is this.  "The guns heretofore sent them are of the poorest quality & often burst the barrel or break the lock in a wee after being in use.  These poor things are stamped "Leman, Lancaster, Pa." and "Darenger, Phil."  Hundreds of them are now lying useless, or being wrought up by the Smiths into some other article.  The old North West English guns are the only kind that can stand them.  If Americans cannot or will not make their goods as good as the English, let them keep them, & not impose them on the Indians."

If nothing else this might provide you with an idea of what not to make.

[Uncle Russ]

I would say that is indeed an interesting article!

It appears there was a certain amount of "junk" even amongst the most well know names of the time.
Whether that was by design, or merely incidental, might bring a lot of conjecture but, coming from the Fur Trade Quarterly, I believe it has merit.

Thanks for sharing that little tid-bit Mike!

Uncle Russ..

[Sir Michael]

As I stated in my post.  This is was the opinion of the head man on the ground for the United States in WI at the time and was based on his personal observations.

I only brought it up because it illustrated the types of guns circulating in the area in the early 1840s.

[pathfinder]

Yes,thank's Mike! VERY interesting! Because the native indians were "Of the Earth",doesnt mean they weren't sofisticated in being able to see junk for what it was,JUNK!

[Trois Castors]

My son and his family live in the Brainerd area

Sorry for going off-topic but FARGO is one of my favorite movies.....and now back to to Muzzleloading....

[Riley/MN]

My son and his family live in the Brainerd area

Sorry for going off-topic but FARGO is one of my favorite movies.....and now back to to Muzzleloading....

Have you seen "Escanaba in da Moonlight"?

(pointing the stupid at MI instead of MN here...)

[chuckpa]

I live in pa and I have been able to buy a lot of these half stock rifles from the 1840 period forward. They are inexpensive here because the demand is for full stock rifles. I have heard them called various things from hardware rifles to mountain rifles. A friend of mine calls them Appalachian rifles because he said they were made from Main to Georgia. I have rifles that were also made in Ohio from this period. The more I look at this era I can see that they were made in a lot more places then the Appalachian mountains.

These rifles intrigue me and as pathfinder stated these rifles are very accurate even with rough bores. I think they are a neglected area of interest at least in pa. I have seen the Ohio rifle collectors site. Thanks for all of your input. I will make a Vincent Rifle type for my MN family.

[Sir Michael]

Clean, simple, straightforward.  Good choice.  I'm not a fan of the but plate but then that's just me.  Can you keep us posted on the build from parts to finish?  It's always fun to see what people build and getting there is half the fun.

[chuckpa]

I will be happy to do that Sir Michael. I am not a good photographer but I will see what I can do. I will tkae another look at that but plate

[pathfinder]

My son and his family live in the Brainerd area

Sorry for going off-topic but FARGO is one of my favorite movies.....and now back to to Muzzleloading....

Have you seen "Escanaba in da Moonlight"?

(pointing the stupid at MI instead of MN here...)

Hunted the property the movie was shot on in Bark River when I lived in "Da Yoop" Cool area,AWSOME cedar swamp's! Two holer was still there last time I was there.

[Sir Michael]

Don't change the but plate on my account.  As I said I'm just not a fan.  If that is the correct style for the type of gun you're going to build and you want it to be accurate then use it.  Don't mind me.

[chuckpa]

I found out that I might be able to purchase an original Michigan rifle for a reasonable price. If I get it I will try to get some pictures on the forum. I may use it as a guide for my Minnesota rifle build.

[Sir Michael]