William Madden Rifle

This “New School” piece was inspired principally by the work of Hagarstown, Maryland gunsmith George Kreps, Sr. and, secondarily, by that of John Armstrong, and his mentor, Hanover, Pennsylvania gunsmith George Schreyer.  Maryland architecture is evident in the slight “swan’s-neck” wrist and v-shaped forestock.  Ornamental motifs used by Kreps and Armstrong appear as piercings in the toe plate (heart / bell flower) and ramrod thimbles (bell flower / Edelweiss flower) and in the carving in front of the trigger guard (stylized bell flower) and behind the rear ramrod thimble (Schreyer fleur de lis or stylized acanthus leaf).  A Federal Eagle, frequently engraved on the cheekpiece, is displayed here as an engraved silver inlay in the nosecap.

The patchbox has a side opening, “captured” lid with a cabinet catch and “throw-bolt” release mechanism patterned after that found on a lid by Hachen-Schreyer (Muzzle Blasts, March 2005, pp. 55-57).  The sideplates opposite the lock and around the patchbox are substantially of the same design used by Kreps and are partially engraved in the broken-line style employed by him.  Engraving on the tang and barrel, which is “popped” by use of gold inlay, are my own designs.  They also show the broken line style favored by Kreps.  Barrel key escucheons and surrounding wire inlay are of contemporary design. Ropework, used by both Kreps and Armstrong, surrounds the patchbox lid and serves as a border at the breech of the barrel.

 The carving behind the cheekpiece features curved diaper work found on a rifle by Kreps.  The carvings along the wrist are of my own design. Carving around the barrel tang is typical of that used by Armstrong and other northern Maryland gunsmiths.   The shell-like carving ahead of the lock and sideplate panels is a modified form of the gadrooning used in this location by Armstrong and Schreyer. All are cut in low relief below the base of the surrounding surface plane in the manner done by Schreyer.

The rifle was built as a surprise 2010 birthday/Christmas gift for my brother.  In the tradition of symbolic ornamentation found on some period arms, this rifle displays artistic embellishments of significance to him, our family and our Western Nebraska heritage.  The “Scotts Bluff” and “Chimney Rock,” prominent landmarks along the Platte River for rendezvous-bound traders during the fur trade era, for travelers along the Oregon Trail and in the shadows of which we grew up, appear as engraved overlays on the patchbox lid and cheekpiece inlay, respectively.  The views depicted by the overlays are substantially the same painted by A. J. Miller in 1837.  A Nebraska blue agate, set in a leaf and scroll inlay, adorns the lower butt stock.  A Plains buffalo skull (made of buffalo bone) is part of the fancy, folding rear sight. A distinguishing feature of the Madden Coat of Arms, a silver, heraldic raptor with an ivory swan in its grasp, forms the apex of the patchbox finial.  My brother’s astrological sign, a frontal portrait of Capricorn (the Sea Goat), is engraved on the lock plate along with a trophy of ornaments symbolic of the hunt commonly seen in 18th Century French pattern books.  A symbol of his profession (dentistry), comprised of a caduceus and a pair of pliers (found in a 12th Century stained glass  picture of St. Apollonia of Alexandria, the patron saint of dentistry), is engraved on the tang of the rear ramrod thimble.  December, the month of his birth and Christmas, is symbolically captured by an engraved bi-metal, floral inlay in the trigger guard – a poinsettia (the Christmas flower).

The piece is built around a 50 cal. 44" Getz swamped barrel, Wayne Dunlap quarter-sawn sugar maple blank and L & R Durs Egg lock.  Except for the cast buttplate and triggerguard, all mounts, including set-triggers, are handmade.  The stock is stained with shop-made aqua fortis and finished with shop-made varnish oil.           

Text and photos by Wm. (Bill) Madden, Gunmaker

Bozeman, Montana