FRONTIER Antique J.H. JOHNSTON Percussion .36 Long Rifle Pioneer HOMESTEAD Mid-1800s HOMESTEAD/HUNTING Rifle

Product Description

FRONTIER Antique J.H. JOHNSTON Percussion .36 Long Rifle Pioneer HOMESTEAD

Mid-1800s HOMESTEAD/HUNTING Rifle

Here we present an antique J.H. Johnston Half Stock American Percussion Long Rifle, made circa the 1860s in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. John H Johnson was a gunsmith in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, born in 1811 and died in 1889. He established his shop in 1865, just after the close of the American Civil War. John was the father of James H. Johnston, owner of the Great Western Gun Works. Its stout octagonal barrel is in .36 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 19^th 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. This rifle is one such example.

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. The finish has matured to a nice brown patina. Strong action. The bore is in good shape for its age. The stock contains only an average amount of wear and a stable wrist crack is present. Legible markings throughout.

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

Barrel is 32-1/8 inches.

Caliber: .36 Percussion

Overall condition as seen in photos.

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$1800
#230895