m 
FOREST AND STREAM 
rel vw OieD lifted out of the can and the 
rod ahored down for a final time, when a 
squirt of water, eight feet long, shot out 
of the nipple. The old frontiersmen must 
have had plenty of horse;)lay with those 
nipples when cleaning their rifles for they 
make a fine hose nozzle; The hot barrel 
then dries out, and a thin film of oil is 
run down the rifling with a swab on the 
cleaning rod, and the rifle is ready to put 
away. 
M SIMON has shot big game both 
here and in India with, his muz- 
* zle loaders. In Nova Scotia he 
went on two trips, getting his caribou 
both times with a single shot from the 
Tryon .43 at 80 yar-’ • and, in India black 
buck, sambur and other Asian game have 
come to bag, to the sharp bark of our 
American frontiersmans rifle in his 
hands. 
Among the gunsmith’s of that period 
may be mentioned Tryon, Krider, Der- 
ringer, Piper and Goulchcr of Philadel- 
phia; Lewis, the famous barrel maker of 
Troy, N. Y. ; Geo. O. Leonard of Keen, 
N. H., who speciialized on the target bar- 
rels; the great 'Western Gun Works of 
Pittsburgh, establishpd in 1860 and still 
making muzzle loading rifles of the old 
school, and Hawkins of St. Louis, the 
best-known rifle-smith of the old West, 
Josh Goulcber, of Philadelphia, later es- 
tablished the firm of Goulcber & Butler, 
who made the first percussion cap rifle 
taken West by Kit Carson, 
The workmanship of them all is superb, 
BO that the purchaser of any rifle bearing 
the names of any of thc.sc old gunsmiths 
will find that he has a great shooting 
weapon in hand. The barrels were all 
made here, the lock.? at first came from 
England, and later were made iierc also. 
The majority of these locks are with for- 
ward plate, in preference to tang plate, 
with the spring facing backwards, no 
doubt to give more strength in the tang. 
The stocks were all heavily ornamented, 
with inset brass deer, turkeys and orna- 
mental figures, and the bult plate strap 
came np over comb and heel for a con- 
siderable distance, beside which the steel 
ornamentation of the pat( h pocket eovcre l 
a large part of the outer side of the sioek, 
-while the cheek piece filled the inner. 
'Am the heel was very narrow, from 4" 
to 4%", and the drop very sharp, never 
BKich less than inches, the old stocks 
had a qnaiutness all their own, and gave 
the gunsmith considerable latitude in 
which to spread himself in the matter 
of ornamentation. 
Of the long Kentucky rifles, M. Simon 
has two examples in his collection, both 
accurate-shooting nail drivers. The first 
is a flint lock, .43 calibre, with 44 inch 
barrel, weighing twelve pounds. The 
tiiarge explodes a noticeable interval after 
the flint has set fire to the priming in the 
pan, and the report is a long 
requiring holding on the mark while the 
piece Is firing, but it.s penetration is 
ireatCT than that of the lab-r percussion 
UBem with short barrels, which is some 
fcwa Inches in hard oak. 'The sights are 
iptXrpDt aad notched bar rear, the latter 
set 19^2 inches from the eye, .'K) that the 
definition of rear notch, bead, and mark 
are all good. Holding one’s arm well out 
on the long barrel, even tve puny moderns 
can manage to hold well on a mark and 
make good scores. The drop of this 
rifle's stock is 4’' at heel and 2 " at comb, 
and tlic Elociv length 13 inclies. 
The other Kentucky rifle is a “pea” 
rifle, .31 bore, weighing twelve pounds. 
It was originally as tall as the other, 
ft. 2", but about six inches had been sawed 
off the barrel. The rear sigiit i.s set 
13*-; inches from the eye, and is the usual 
bar notch, with leaf front, very long and 
low, not over a sixteemh. inch high. The 
heel of this rifle is only 4 inches wide, 
and it has the usual deep drop of the 
early guns. Both of these Kentucky rifles 
date around 1812. 
The ilississippi Rifle came in later, the 
’Tryon example in Simon’s collection dat- 
ing 1844. 'I'he pioneers had now crossed 
tlie Mississippi, ar.d were n'.ouulcd oii 
ponies as they ranged the prairies, and a 
short, heavy-hitting rifle with shoulder 
sllr.g-strap was wanted. This Tryon is of 
.30 calibre, shooting a I'.alf ounce bullet, 
and has a 30-inch barrel, wiih military 
ran.skct hammer and percussion cap, and 
tile rear sight is set only 10" forward from 
the eye, evidently a rc.auhitio!’. .".ruiy 
scheme, on regulation musket barrel, with 
no ihought of what is required in good 
definition in the rear notch. 
Anoti'er interesting rifle is the imme- 
diate successor of the Mississippi rifle, the 
'Whitney, .31 caliiirc, used extensively all 
over the Y'est in the carl.v days. It shot 
a Millie hall, conical, wi:h expanding 
base, and had a Govenunent ladder rear 
sight witli point blank' a iiundred yar’< 
when the sight lay flat, and a inuximnr.’i 
range of 900 yards when the notch -wa i 
raised to the top of the ladder. The 
Yfihituoy was the first rifle to he made 
with interchangeable parts. 
Next in chronological order in the col- 
lection is the Sharps buffalo rifle. This 
was exceedingly heavy, 17 lb«.. and was 
carried to the hunting grounds on a led 
I'cny. It is ph'"’’’ an! ‘■io hy. wi^h I’;.' 
military hn't plate and 3l i;u.h harre', 
l.reeth loading, shooting I’le liing. heavy 
.1.3-110-300 cartridge wiih paper patch 
huilet. The hroeeh dreps down in deep 
groove.s by the. pull of the trigger guard 
lever, much like a modern single-shot 
Y’iuchester, but the hammer, instead of 
being centered behind the firing pin, is 
a huge, musket type affair, mounted on 
liie right side and striking a rolling firing 
pin in the breech block, which tumbles 
forward under the blow, its firing pin 
jutting out through a hole in the breech 
block behind the primer. The front sight 
is a plain leaf; the rear a tang peep on 
a long ladder, sighted up to a thousand 
yards. The drop of the stock is 3U 
inches; length, 131 o; — short, for prone 
fiirii’.g. The buffalo hunter, according to 
Buhalo Jones, lay in concealment before 
a herd with his Sharps and half a ton 
of the long, powerful cartridges, and 
picked o.*! the loading cow to right and 
left of the herd, keeping them milling 
uncertainly all day long, until the entire 
lierd was exterminated. No wonder the 
Indians went on the war path! l"uc only 
trouble is that they did not succeed in. 
scalpittg all of these old hunters, until 
the Government had time to appreciate 
all that the country has lost in its im- 
mense herds of bison. I am glad, how- 
ever. to have been able to describe here 
the Sharps rifle, for it played its part in 
our history, and is fast becoming but a 
name to the present generation cf sports- 
men. 
* 7.IONG curious old-time rifles, two by 
/-V Josh Goulcber in M. Simon’s col- 
lection will hear a brief description. 
The first i.s an over-and-under gun, date 
about 1840, both barrels .45 calibre, one 
rifled and the o:h.er smooth bore. It was 
undoulitedl; used for bear, for ii gave 
two ehot.-; nu:c’.:. The barrtls art 30" 
Iciiv. and levclvcd at the bare hv a hair- 
line fit against the steel face of the front 
of the tang. A side catch locks either bar- 
rel in position when it comes uppermost, 
and both barrels have percussion nipples, 
even the upside down one holding its 
nipple because of the tight fit of the cap. 
To use the second barrel takes about a 
second to re-cock, spring the catch, and 
turn the under barrel uppermo-t. AVe 
reasoned that the hunter used the rifled 
’oarrcl for long range, and the smooth cne 
for close up, after the hear had ihayged. 
O.'. otie would he used for deer and the 
rmooth bore for potting grouse, as at 
that date they were as unafraid of man as 
they are, even now, in parts of the Rock- 
ies, and vo’dd sit in a tree, looking air 
him and waiting to be shot. 
The other rifl'> is a Josh Goulcber tar- 
get rifle, for cl l-'ini“ tuikey head shoots. 
Tt is a flint loyk. weighin.g 13 Ihs.. with 
heavy octagonal barrel l'*j inches thick 
and 32" long. It is .38 calibre, and both 
front and rear sights are mounted in 
long steel tubes, about half inch in 
diameter by about three inches long. 
Inside the rear tube is a peep sight, and 
i -1 the front a fine, pinhead sight, both 
t'-hith g've fine d^riuition in all liglus. 
-rp„ yrg'i'r oi’P’' h'”.ilvyr sights arc un- 
der t1'*' t''^''"s and c.an be vsud in pbiue uf 
them l‘v sir.m'y sighting iiud''r the tnlK-s. 
'fibis T'fie shools vnrv accurately at U'O 
yards, and, like all flint locks, is slow in 
j[ Continued on pa^ 672X 
