Drop at comb and heel are huge on this rifle - much more like you'd expect to see from a Lehigh or Bucks County rifle but both of those are heavily curved on the underside of the stock and this one is really straight like a Lancaster. The Lehigh had a stepped wrist and the Bucks county was a continuous curve. Both had a really large drop at heel but not so huge at the comb.
The wood, the Rococo carving, and the finish is beautiful and the sliding wood patchbox is elegant. The curve on the buttstock is consistent with Rev War era rifles. All of which point towards an early Lancaster time period. The rounded back on the lockplate however is early 1800's style which is inconsistent with the sliding wood patchbox and lack of decoration on the rifle. Rifles of the Golden-Age period were much more heavily decorated than pre-war and Rev War rifles, with brass stars or decor at the pins on the forend and often brass decor (weeping hearts, hunting stars, etc.) on the wrist and cheek-rest along with brass pierced patchboxes. Until you see the lock it looks like an early Lancaster rifle to me with an excessive amount of drop at heel and comb. And then you see the lock which is definitely Golden Age era.
You could change the lock to an early Lancaster style to be more consistent with the rest of the look of the rifle, but if it's an original Mortimer lock, it would be a crime to do so. To further complicate the style, if it was a rifle made in England by the Mortimers, it would be made out of walnut, not Maple. They didn't have the hard maple in England suitable for making guns and walnut was the preferred wood. The lock could easily have been imported from England though.
So your rifle is a bit of a conundrum... Nonetheless, it's a beautiful rifle and if you find you just can't handle the contradiction in styles, feel free to ship it to me. Then it will be my problem! :shock:
Twisted_1in66
Topic: A Niel Fields Flintlock (Read 1906 times)