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HEAVY BARREL PLAINS RIFLE – .62 CALIBER - FRONTIER
GUNSMITH PERCUSSION CONVERSION: A classic
example of the mid-19th Century heavy
barreled guns that were carried on the Western Frontier,
this Plains Rifle at once presents both a beautiful
appearance with the brightly tiger-striped maple stock,
and a strong sense of power from the heavy barrel and
large caliber. The drum and cone testify to a
conversion from flintlock and the overall style suggests
this rifle may have originally been a full stock long
rifle. As the years passed and styles changed, or
perhaps as the rifle was carried onto to the plains and
into the mountains, it was rebored – likely several
times to reach the impressive .62 caliber bore it now
has – and to reduce the weight, the barrel shortened and
stock was altered by a frontier gunsmith to create a
piece that has all the unique features and flavor of a
gun right out of the old west.
Weighing over 12 pounds, the rifle is mounted with a 29
¾” octagon barrel that measures a full 1 3/32” from flat
to flat. The barrel, with its early hand rifled bore,
is fitted with screwed on under rib which holds the
early style tapered ramrod that appears to be original
to the gun. The exterior flats of the barrel have a
smooth, even rich brown patina, lightened along the
corners of the flats, with no pitting. The barrel
features a patent hooked breech and is held in place
with one barrel key or wedge. The long tapered barrel
tang is attached with two screws and also has a threaded
hole for a tang sight. The bore is excellent,
apparently well maintained by the original owner, with
strong, definitive rifling throughout, and only the most
minor evidence of light pitting. Both the front and
rear sights are present, the front sight highlighted by
a silver blade and the rear sight is a classic buck horn
mounted in a hand cut dove tail mortise. The lock was
changed at some point during the contemporary use of the
rifle – not an uncommon necessity as the original lock
wore out or failed due to heavy use – and is evidenced
by the changed position of the single lock screw and
well executed fill at the rear of the plate. The cone
in the drum conversion appears to be original to the
conversion and has seen many hammer falls as the top of
the cone is peened down. The lock and double set
trigger assemblies function as crisp as a clock. The
furniture - butt plate, toe plate, patch box, side plate
and trigger guard – is all brass and retains a very
pleasant mellow patina. The patch box lid opens and
closes crisply and is not loose. The maple stock, as
mentioned above, has an above average, very attractive
tiger stripe grain which has colored through the years
to a rich distinct pattern. The wood surface, worn
smooth and with an excellent patina, is not marred
beyond what one would expect to see in a frontier used
rifle. The toe of the stock is intact – often found
chipped away and the barrel channel edges are smooth and
intact with no splitting. There is a small chip of wood
missing from directly in front of the drum, between the
lock plate and the barrel, and there is a small check in
the grain under the side plate that is stable and
results in no weakness in that area. The fore stock is
capped with a nicely profiled pewter nose cap.
Handling this Plains Rifle evokes all of the color and
the mystique of the early American West when mounting a
defense against hostile men and grizzlies, or anchoring
a buffalo required a bore of this size. If you have
ever been attracted to tales of the likes of Bridger,
Johnson, Smith, Carson or the legions of unknown
explorers and trappers, hefting this rifle will
transport you back to those long ago shining times in
the mountains. $3500
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