Wednesday, March 13, 2024

45th Annual Tennessee Kentucky Rifle Show: Walter Cline Photography and Chunk Guns Exhibit

At the 45th Tennessee Kentucky Rifle Show there will be an exhibit of Walter Cline photography as well as some Chunk guns from his collection.

Walter Matson Cline (1873-1941) was a Chattanooga, TN, photographer and preeminent historian and collector of muzzle loading firearms. His book "the Muzzle-Loading Rifle Then and Now" became the authority on the history of black powder firearms when it was published in 1942, shortly after his death. The National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association, of which Cline was an early member, is headquartered in Friendship, IN, and is home to the Walter Cline shooting range.

Muzzle Loading Rifle Then and Now Hardcover – June 1, 1981

by Walter M Cline

This extensive compilation about the muzzleloading rifle contains a cross section of the preserved data concerning the development of the "hallowed ole arms of the Southern highlands."

Table of Contents
Chapter
1 The Muzzle-Loader is Born
2 Making the Barrels
3 Shootin' at Raven Rock
4 Development of the Rifle
5 The Rifle in the American Revolution
6 Arms and Ammunition in the U.S. Civil War
7 My Gun Collection
8 Modern vs. Old-Time Methods
9 Proving Accuracy by Tests
10 Hunting in the Great Smokies
11 Mountain Smiths and their Craftsmanship
12 Building Two Rifles from a Junk Pile
13 Frontier Riflemen in American History
14 Match Shooting Today in Tennessee
15 The Revival of the Matches
Appendix

Review on Amazon:

This book helped to “trigger” the revival of the sport of muzzle-loading flintlock rifle shooting matches in the first third of the twentieth century. After his death, Walter Cline’s widow provided the funds in his memory for the recently-formed National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association to buy the land for its large target-shooting range in Friendship, Indiana, which is in regular use today. In his memory, it is named the Walter Cline Range. This edition of Mr. Cline’s classic book has been updated to include some of this history. Highly recommended for black powder enthusiasts, historic gunsmiths, reenactors, buckskinners, rendezvouers and living history buffs.

Amazon here.