My dad purchased this at an estate sale in Ohio when I was a kid. If memory serves me, he paid $27 for it. The stock was broken as well as the trigger guard and it was missing a hammer. He repaired the stock as best as he could and did some brass/brazing work to repair the trigger guard and bought a period correct original hammer. It's a 43 or 44 caliber with I think a 28 or 30 inch octagon barrel. The barrel alone weighs 9lbs.
The lock says "Manton". Joseph Manton was a famous British gunsmith who produced fine shotguns. I believe he and his brother, Jacob had a falling out and Jacob went on to produce pistols. Joseph Manton apparently went on to improve weapons quality and paved the way for the modern artillery shell.
The Lock on this rifle may be a forgery, we aren't for sure. Manton locks were well known and many in the US at the time copied them, even using the Manton name.
It has a set trigger and a hair trigger. Believe me, few modern triggers break as clean as this trigger does and it's in the ounces.
The custom barrel was made by Benjamin B. Loar (B.B. Loar). He was a Gunsmith, Watchmaker and Jeweler in Granville and Newark, Ohio from 1850 to 1890. The top flat at the breech end is stamped "B.B. LOAR / GRANDVILLE, O."
I've seen online where a target rifle wearing one of his barrels sold for $18,000 but it was in excellent shape and was completely different than ours.
The muzzle was created for a false muzzle. I'm not exactly sure how they worked but I believe the false muzzle attached through the four holes in the muzzle which aided in aligning a conical bullet to properly align into the rifling. Although I don't have a picture of it, the tang at the end of the breach looks as though it might have had a sight similar to that of a Vernier long range peep sight. Although the front sight doesn't necessarily give credence to that. I'm sure this rifle was used as a target rifle in its day because I doubt anyone wanted to carry around an 11 pound rifle.
When I was young I took it deer hunting but was never able to shoot at one. Accuracy was 1/4 minute of deer at 50 yards due to a lot of corrosion through the years. We used a 40 caliber ball with a very heavy patch and 70 grains of FFG.
Thanks for looking.
The lock says "Manton". Joseph Manton was a famous British gunsmith who produced fine shotguns. I believe he and his brother, Jacob had a falling out and Jacob went on to produce pistols. Joseph Manton apparently went on to improve weapons quality and paved the way for the modern artillery shell.
The Lock on this rifle may be a forgery, we aren't for sure. Manton locks were well known and many in the US at the time copied them, even using the Manton name.
It has a set trigger and a hair trigger. Believe me, few modern triggers break as clean as this trigger does and it's in the ounces.
The custom barrel was made by Benjamin B. Loar (B.B. Loar). He was a Gunsmith, Watchmaker and Jeweler in Granville and Newark, Ohio from 1850 to 1890. The top flat at the breech end is stamped "B.B. LOAR / GRANDVILLE, O."
I've seen online where a target rifle wearing one of his barrels sold for $18,000 but it was in excellent shape and was completely different than ours.
The muzzle was created for a false muzzle. I'm not exactly sure how they worked but I believe the false muzzle attached through the four holes in the muzzle which aided in aligning a conical bullet to properly align into the rifling. Although I don't have a picture of it, the tang at the end of the breach looks as though it might have had a sight similar to that of a Vernier long range peep sight. Although the front sight doesn't necessarily give credence to that. I'm sure this rifle was used as a target rifle in its day because I doubt anyone wanted to carry around an 11 pound rifle.
When I was young I took it deer hunting but was never able to shoot at one. Accuracy was 1/4 minute of deer at 50 yards due to a lot of corrosion through the years. We used a 40 caliber ball with a very heavy patch and 70 grains of FFG.
Thanks for looking.
