No. 21 in “Longrifles of North Carolina” by John Bivins, Jr.

Length overall 58 1/4 inches. Octagonal rifled barrel of 42 caliber,42 5/8 inches long

This is a fine example of a heavily-decorated rifle of the late flintlock periods and probably was made west of the Yadkin River. But exactly where or by whom is unknown. There are 40 pieces of coin silver inlaid into the brass mounts and into the wood of the stock. The use of silver with brass was not unusual in North Carolina, but the particularly large number of silver inlays that the piece has is rare.

The large brass patchbox has twelve piercings all of which are filled with silver, the joints between the silver and the brass has been accentuated with an engraved skip line. The inlays on the left side of the buttstock are unusual for North Carolina, but two of them appear to be very stylized forms of more conventional inlays. Thus the cheek piece inlay can be regarded as a stylized version of the more usual cheek piece star; likewise the inlay below the cheek piece is a stylized version of the inlay that forms the touch hole pick holder on more conventionial Carolina rifles. The brass toe plate extends full length from the butt to the trigger guard, which has six piercings in the shape of hearts, all of which are filled with silver. Silver hearts abound on the rifle, there being six on the toe plate, one neatly inlaid into the rear ramrod pipe, four in the vicinity of the lock and side plate, and one of the patchbox finial.

The forestock mounting is of type A without the flute. The double incised comb line is a familiar feature on North Carolina rifles.

Originally this rife was a flintlock. The lock is hand-made, in the English style, and is now converted to percussion. Both the lock and the barrel apparently were signed but the signatures have been removed with a file.

The trigger guard spur is unusually large and curves forward rather than backward. The guards on the Henderson County rifles Nos.. 22, 23, 24, 25, having similar large forward-curving spurs, but it is not known whether or not there is any significance to this similarity.

Yes, some parts of the gun are repeated. The images were shot and formated so why not post and show a slightly different view. This gun is just so amazing that all views should be shared. JR

Copy from “Longrifles of North Carolina” by John Bivins, Jr. Photographed at the 2010 Tennessee Kentucky Rifle Show by Jan Riser.