Pictured is my rendition of a Pennsylvania Longrifle in the
style of the Lehigh Valley circa 1790-1810.
Built in a contemporary manner, after no
particular maker, the piece was
principally inspired by the work of Jacob Kuntz, the Rupp family and John Young.
The architecture, furniture and some of the artistic motifs are
patterned after that seen on the originals. Other features and decorative details are
either based on outside sources, foreign and domestic, period
as well as contemporary, or are of my own
design.
There are a few details regarding the build that are not
readily evident from the photos or that could use further elaboration. The ivory nose on the cheekpiece, for
example, is mechanically locked into the stock using a joint with a reverse
draft or dovetail. The concealed hinge
on the patchbox consists of tabs riveted
to the lid that are pinned to folded tabs
on a “standing” plate fastened to the front of the box cavity. Because the finial
and surround are permanently nailed to
the stock, this design facilitates installation and removal of the lid and
hinge assembly as a separate unit. The
folded tabs restrict lateral movement keeping the lid aligned with the opening
in the surround.
According to some, the slim look of the Lehigh is achieved, in part, by keeping the top of the forestock sidewalls low, “typically” covering no more than one-third of the barrel sideflat. To my eye, any
slenderness realized in this manner is more than
offset by the heavy look of more
barrel being exposed. Here, the appearance of barrel heaviness has been avoided by leaving the sidewalls a little
higher, and, instead of running at a uniform height along the barrel, the
sidewalls taper, becoming narrower as they approach the muzzle. For me, a tapered forestock does a better job
of visually slenderizing a rifle’s appearance than does the “typical” approach.
Moreover, on this gun, the width of the upper forestock at the muzzle is
about 1/8 of an inch narrower than considered “typical”
for a Lehigh, which makes it appear slimmer, less squat or fat.
Although difficult to appreciate without handling, the
carving is extremely shallow, no more than .020 deep in most cases. The engraving is similarly done in a light-handed
manner. Most of it was cut using a
hammer chased graver, the hammer being choked well up on the handle to
facilitate delivery of light, rapid blows.
The more delicate leaf nicks and shading cuts were done with a
hand-pushed burin.
As regards finishing, the barrel, tang and tang bolt head are cold
rust blued. The rear sight (notch not
yet cut) is charcoal blued. The stock
is stained with three coats of aqua fortis (shop-made by fellow Montana Guild
member Joe Sharber) over a base coat of Honey Maple stain, rubbed back and
lightly patinated with lampblack. The
wood is finished with five coats of custom-made varnish oil, rubbed out between
coats and top-coated with a paste wax.
The rifle is built
around a Rice 42 inch, 50 caliber,
swamped octagon barrel using a blank of bias cut, curly, sugar maple from Wayne
Dunlap and a mildly reworked Chambers Large Siler Deluxe lock. Except for the buttplate, tiggerguard and
ramrod tips, the furniture is scratch built.
Copy and photos by Wm. (Bill) Madden
Bozeman, Montana
