This flint longrifle is signed by contemporary maker and author or the book Engraving Historic Firearms John Schippers and appears to have a considerable amount of influence from the York County, Pennsylvania maker George Shroyer, as shown in the book Rifles of Colonial America Vol. I. This rifle captures the many carving details of Schroyer's work, including a Fleur-de-Lis carved on the top of the stock around the barrel tang, and carving behind the cheek piece. Trimmed in brass furniture, this fine rifle features a 39-1/2" octagon-to-round barrel, and a Russ Hamm flintlock. This rifle has a well aged natural patina finish from decades of handling. The rifle has a 14-5/8" length of pull, to fit a larger or taller shooter. This rifle weights 8.2 pounds.
The .40 caliber octagon-to-round barrel is 39-1/2" in length. The barrel is thickest at the breech for strength, tapers to a sixteen flat transition to a single wedding band to round. The barrel is rifled with six lands with square cut grooves. The bore is mostly bright, but does have some scattered speckles and dark spot near the muzzle. They are clearly visible, but do not tear a cleaning patch. The top flat is signed John. Schippers. The brown finish at the breech has an aged patina typical of firing and cleaning. A nickel silver blade front sight is dovetailed 2" behind the muzzle. A flat top rear sight with v-notch is dovetailed 6" ahead of the breech.
The beauty of this rifle is in its sweeping lines, fit, and finish. Stocked in maple, the stock has been stained to a light brown that has aged with just a hint of a green tone, possibly from Chromium trioxide, which was popular as a finish during the 1970's. All of the brass has aged to a dark patina from use. The buttplate has engraved scroll work accents on the comb. Notice the sliding wood patchbox with spring release on the buttplate. Beneath the door is a cut cavity for storing flints, jags, or other shooting accessories. The wrist is offset from the comb by a line of raised and incised carving. This carving is very shallow, but appears well defined due to the well cleaned background. From above the tapering comb that ends in the late 18th to early 19th century buttplate. The top view also shows how the lock panels taper widest to the rear, a correct feature on early longrifles. A raised carved Fleur-de-Lis is shaped around the tang of the breech. The carving appears very bold due to the well cleaned backgrounds, but in reality is less than 1/32" tall. All the incised lines are cleanly cut with even line weights. The inlet around the tang has a small chip on the right hand side that appears to happened long ago from the dark patina on it.
The bottom view reveals the squared toe of the rifle. A brass toeplate is fitted to protect the toe of the stock from contact with the ground during loading and cleaning. A line of incised carving runs along the toe line of the buttstock and terminates at the trigger. Notice that the brass triggerguard also has crisp filed flats on both the front and rear finials. The finials and bow are decorated with hand engraving. The triggerguard is mounted with traditional retaining pins. Pins were much simpler for the gun maker to install than hand made screws. The rear pin is very low on the side panel side and comes out just above the triggerguard. The stock has a raised molding along the ramrod channel that extends to the brass muzzle cap. The ramrod extends well past the muzzle. This is because the front lock bolt passes through the center of the ramrod hole, preventing the ramrod from seating to full depth. The bolt is so far down into the ramrod hole it could not be notched to allow rod clearance. The ramrod could be trimmed and a tip put on to accept and extension (which could be stored in the patchbox), or a shorter display ramrod could be fitted. The longer rod could be used for service. The brass sideplate is nicely engraved, The cheek of the rifle is shaped with a square cheek piece. Raised and incised carving decorates the area behind the cheek. The smooth clean background gives the illusion of great depth, without much depth. The rear of the lock panels are carved with a beaver tail final.
The Russ Hamm flintlock has a gray brown patina. This lock captures the styling used on many American longrifles in the Golden Age period. The lock plate is very neatly inlet into the panel, but the rear tail sits below the wood. A Ampco vent liner has been installed in the barrel, positioned well above the bottom of the pan, centered on the heat of the flash. If your flint longrifle suffers from that infamous slow whoosh-bang ignition delay, study the work of today's best gun makers, and position your vent well centered on the pan, high above the bottom, to serve as a window on the center of the flash.
This longrifle is signed by the well know builder and author John Schippers. The bore is mostly bright with some speckles behind the muzzle. The forward lock bolt does block the ramrod channel, which prevents the ramrod from seating to the breech. This rifle does have very well executed carving and engraving, with a natural aged patina. It will be a joy to display, carry at your next reenactment, or shoot at the range! Order it for a ten day visual inspection. You will be delighted. Else if it does not fit you, return it in unfired condition for same-day refund. Postage is your only risk, when you order any one-of-a-kind gun from Track, whether new, used, or antique.
