Product Description
Antique A.G. BISHOP Signed Half-Stock .40 Caliber Percussion LONG RIFLE
Kentucky Style HUNTING/HOMESTEAD Long Rifle
Here we present an antique A.G. Bishop Signed Half Stock Percussion American Long Rifle, made circa the mid-19th Century. Addison G. Bishop was active in Panama, New York from 1848-1857, then in Hillsdale, Michigan from 1872-1899 from what has been discovered or recorded. Its stout octagonal barrel is in .40 caliber, large enough to take small to medium sized game or to defend the homestead against unwanted aggression. Rifle manufacture in the mid-to-late 19th Century was rapidly changing over from thousands of craftsmen all over the United States and on the Frontier making and selling their wares, to the large factories with standardized assembly lines and modern manufacturing techniques. Many makers’ names of the so-called Kentucky long rifles have been lost over time.
The American Long Rifle, more commonly, but less correctly, known as the ‘Kentucky rifle’, was described by Captain John G. W. Dillin in the dedication to his seminal 1924 book, The Kentucky Rifle:
“From a flat bar of soft iron, hand forged into a gun barrel; laboriously bored and rifled with crude tools; fitted with a stock hewn from a maple tree in the neighboring forest; and supplied with a lock hammered to shape on the anvil; an unknown smith, in a shop long since silent, fashioned a rifle which changed the whole course of world history; made possible the settlement of a continent; and ultimately freed our country of foreign domination. Light in weight; graceful in line; economical in consumption of powder and lead; fatally precise; distinctly American; it sprang into immediate popularity; and for a hundred years was a model often slightly varied but never radically changed.”
The overall condition is good. Strong action. The bore has darkened and remains in good shape but does show its age. Brass plates were used for a major wrist repair, of which remains stable. Finish on the stock is smooth with low handling wear. Most markings have worn from either use or storage.
Own the original! This is a legitimate antique and not a reproduction.
Barrel is 34-3/8 inches.
Caliber: .40 Percussion
Overall condition as seen in photos.
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$1800
#227796