Please help me identify this rifle

[ride22]

Hello Everyone,
I just received this long rifle as a gift from my granddad, and it is a family heirloom. We believe that it belonged to my 4 x great-granddad. Anyways, before he gave it to me he had it repaired, and during that process it looks as though they "cleaned stock soil" as well, unfortunately. I will say that it was done respectfully, and they didn't remove everything and there are not any scrape marks that I can see.

The only information that they gave us on the gun was:

• 30 grams FFF Black Powder
• .310 Round Ball (not for sure on what caliber that equates to)
• .015 - .017 Patch

Other information about the rifle:

• Heptagon (7 sided) barrel hole
• no identification markings

I was doing some research to try and determine what type of rifle this is, and came across this website. I hope that you all can help me determine what I have received.

Thanks
Brian

[ride22]

A few more pictures.

[dustydog]

Has a lot of characteristics of a southern Appalachian rifle,bet the stock was cut down at one time.Basic light rifle in .32 caliber in a lot of ways,would love to know the twist rate of the rifling,number of grooves.May originally have been set up as a flintlock,but probably not.The weird part is the 7 sided barrel,probably could track down the maker by that alone.

[jjmitchell60]

From the looks of the end of the barrel, I am seeing 8 sides? What am I missing? To me it looks as though the edge of one side is not as sharp but still a standard 8 sided barrel.
Now it looks to be as stated a 1/2 stock that has been cut down from a full stock. Reason I say that is the single ram rod ferrule. It does have a southern mountain style to it and I would say originally a 1840 or later gun but not too much later with the drop the stock has. 32 is a great small game rifle (I own 2 in 32 caliber). I would really like to understand the way it is 7 sided, like I said, maybe I am missing something in the pictures.

[BillM]

Originally Posted by jjmitchell60

From the looks of the end of the barrel, I am seeing 8 sides? What am I missing? .

The OUTSIDE of the barrel is indeed 8 sided. The BORE is seven sided.
That's pretty darned distinctive. I'll bet that someone comes along
with a makers name known for heptagonal rifling.

[ride22]

Originally Posted by jjmitchell60

From the looks of the end of the barrel, I am seeing 8 sides? What am I missing? To me it looks as though the edge of one side is not as sharp but still a standard 8 sided barrel.
Now it looks to be as stated a 1/2 stock that has been cut down from a full stock. Reason I say that is the single ram rod ferrule. It does have a southern mountain style to it and I would say originally a 1840 or later gun but not too much later with the drop the stock has. 32 is a great small game rifle (I own 2 in 32 caliber). I would really like to understand the way it is 7 sided, like I said, maybe I am missing something in the pictures.

Sorry if I confused you there, I was talking about the inside of the barrel. The outside does indeed have 8 sides, but the inside only has 7 sides.

If I had to guess where this gun originated from I would say Virginia/Kentucky being that is where where most of my relatives were located during this time frame.

[dustydog]

Yep,7 sided muzzle.If your family was from southern/western Va.then this does class as a Appalachian rifle.

[dustydog]

Trying to remember,wasn't there a family named Raddelbaugh down to Wise county that did rifle barrels with a German style flat and corner style rifling?

[Buffalochip]

The first backlock actions didn't come into use until about 1830, so it has always been a percussion rifle--I agree with JJMitchell60 that it is probably 1840 or so. I also have a 7 lands/grooves halfstock squirrel rifle that is unmarked, but with the typical sidelock, although when the barrel is removed, there are old, unused dovetails opn the underside, which makes me suspect the barrel was repurposed from another rifle.

Looks like the front thimble has been resoldered and the entire rifle was a bit crude from day one. I've never seen a cleanout screw like this one has--actually looks like robust enough to use.

[ride22]

Originally Posted by Buffalochip

The first backlock actions didn't come into use until about 1830, so it has always been a percussion rifle--I agree with JJMitchell60 that it is probably 1840 or so. I also have a 7 lands/grooves halfstock squirrel rifle that is unmarked, but with the typical sidelock, although when the barrel is removed, there are old, unused dovetails opn the underside, which makes me suspect the barrel was repurposed from another rifle.

Looks like the front thimble has been resoldered and the entire rifle was a bit crude from day one. I've never seen a cleanout screw like this one has--actually looks like robust enough to use.

Not for sure if this will help or not, but this is what they did during the repair:

• Rebuild Lock and Triggers
• Clean Bore
• New Nipple
• Repair Bolster
• Clean Stock Soil
• Repaired Front
• Front Thimble
• Moved Barrel
• Key and Pin
• Repair crack in Stock

That being said, I don't know if that is what you are seeing in the pictures or not.

[Pustic]

It shoots a heptagonal roundball.