Southern Articifer
Private
- Joined
- May 4, 2014
One of the guns from the Civil War I've always wanted to build is a fireable militarized sporting rifle. These were quite common in the south. These guns were referred to as country rifles, sporting rifles and Kentucky rifles. They were donated to the cause literally by the wagon load. Shops like that at Holly Springs, Mississippi rebuilt them to a military standard. They were shortened to on average 33 1/2", bored 54 cal, rifled and fit for a musket bayonet by turning the muzzle round and brazing a lug on. The set triggers were removed but the trigger plate was reused and only the single forward trigger put back in. Swivels were also added to both full and half stock guns, and an iron ram rod was added to replace the original wooden one. The one I started today is being built from a Lyman Plains rifle. A good copy of a typical mid 19th century sporting gun. As always, I do the most difficult work first. In this case, its the barrel and attaching the bayonet - a M.1842. The rest of the works pretty easy: reshaping the stock and finishing it, adding the swivels, iron rammer and replacing the modern sights with period correct ones. Final details include stamping the barrel. I'm thinking something out of Memphis or Natchez. I'll post the finished piece. It should be done by next week. Here are some images of the work so far.