Antique Mid-1850s J. STAPLETON Full-Stock .36 Maple Stock Penn. LONG RIFLE PENNSYLVANIA Style HUNTING/HOMESTEAD Long Rifle

Product Description

Antique Mid-1850s J. STAPLETON Full-Stock .36 Maple Stock Penn. LONG RIFLE

PENNSYLVANIA Style HUNTING/HOMESTEAD Long Rifle

Here we present an antique James Stapleton Full Stock Percussion Long Rifle, made circa the mid-19^th Century in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania. Stapleton was a gunsmith who worked his entire adult life in Todd Township in Huntingdon County. Interestingly in his spare time, when he wasn’t making guns, he was a noted violin player, or should I say “fiddle” player known for performing at local square dances in Huntingdon County. There are pictures of him, his shop, and some of his rifles in the book “The Kentucky Rifle and Me” by Edith G. Cooper.

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 very good. Strong action with fully functioning set trigger. Good bore for its age. Legible markings. Original smooth brown barrel patina. Solid maple stock with a smooth varnish.

Own the original! This is a legitimate antique and not a reproduction.

Barrel is 37-1/2 inches.

Caliber: .36 Percussion

Overall condition as seen in photos.

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Guaranteed AUTHENTIC & Includes CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY.

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$1900
#247388