Lance by Taylor Sapergia

 A lance I just made to be my "blanket prize" at the Thanksgiving Rendezvous next weekend. 

The shaft is a young pine tree, and the point I knapped from obsidian.  It is bound with moose leg sinew which was soaked in hide glue.  Decoration is red wool, ribbons, and turkey feathers.

Copy and photos by Taylor Sapergia.

Copy of A. Verner's Rifle by D. Taylor Sapergia

 Ever since I bought Kindig's wonderful book back in the last century, I have admired this rifle.  Since then, I have bought every publication that had images of the rifle.  I've studied it in picture form for a very long time.  But Shumway's Rifles of Colonial America proved to be the difference.  In it are a few key dimensions that allowed me to scale all of the aspects of the rifle that make it so great.  With that information, I have recreated the rifle as close as I can with that information.

Although I followed the architecture closely, I deviated by using a 48" Getz barrel rifled in .50 calibre.  Still, I kept the length of pull at 13 1/2", and I must say, it is a joy to shoot.  I used a standing breech tang and a hooked breech plug, as in the original.  I have great faith that it will serve me well for years to come.

The rifle is stocked in great Western maple which I compare to superlative English walnut rather than the heavier and harder sugar maple of the east.  It takes incised carving (and relief too) very well, and has excellent curly figure and colour.  The stock is stained with ferric nitrate crystals disolved in water to a supersaturated solution, and blushed.  The finish is an inexpensive varnish, and this I rubbed out with steel wool, and waxed well with Trewax.  The ramrod tapers from 7/16" at the muzzle to 5/16" at the brass rod tip.  I finished the rifle as new.  The pictures will show the patina that has accumulated over the past two months.

Copy and photos supplied by Taylor Sapergia.

D. Taylor Sapergia

This rifle was inspired by two rifles by Jacob Kuntz that are currently on display in the Metropolitan Museum or Art; one of which is the subject of articles in several publications. Detailed reference information was provided by my friends Tom Curran and Eric Von Aschwege who were granted permission to study the Metropolitan Museum's rifles. This rifle is built around a 44" x .40 caliber Rice barrel. The lock is a Jim Chambers Late Ketland. Neither trigger guard nor butt plate were available through suppliers, so I fashioned mine by cutting and joining pieces from several castings. Inlays, patch box, rod pipes and nose piece were made from sheet brass and pure silver. The rear sight emulates the folding leaf sight from the fancier of the MET rifles; an unusual feature for a Kentucky rifle. So I present this rifle in tribute to Jacob Kuntz, arguably one of America's most artistic gunsmiths.

Copy by D. Taylor Sapergia and photos by Tom Curran.