.40 cal Hershel House Flinter

[Phantom Captain]

As the weather has finally been cooperating I got the chance to take my lovely House .40 cal flintlock out last weekend and she's still a tack driver as usual.

This one has Davis double set triggers, a William Large barrel, Siler lock, and of course the rifle was made by Hershel back in the day, I think mid to later 70s. Furniture was all hand forged by Hershel. This was one of the hand-me-downs I inherited from my Pop. I wouldn't sell this gun for anything but I am curious to know how much it's worth. I've heard many different opinions going all over the place.

The lock is fast and she fires with no hang. Real quick like, they way they are supposed to. I was shooting .390 ball with a spit patch (pillow ticking), 40 grains of 2f Goex and using 4f to prime. I would normally use 3f as the main charge for this caliber but only had 2f in the horn so went with it.

I was consistently grouping in the 2" range at 45 yards and was easily hitting 3 inch round cast iron swinging targets no problem. Nothing as cool as a tack driving flinter.

 

[loose noose]

Nice looking flinter for sure, nothing like an heirloom to shoot accurately and the pride of ownership.

 

[Jaymo]

Hershel House. Very nice. I've long wanted one of his flinters.
Still can't afford one.
Bet yer proud of that one. I know I would be.

 

[denster]

Value

You asked for a valuation. I would say, considering the condition, the maker and the barrel maker, somewhere between $2500 and $3000. Hershel is getting on in years and the value of his work is only going up.

 

[444]

And I would pay that kind of money for one. That is beautiful.


I am not really into black powder guns (although I own some of them). But I have always wanted something like that. If I am not mistaken, I read about Hershel House in the Foxfire books about thirty years ago.

 

[Phantom Captain]

Thanks all. I am super proud of this one and, like I said, it's value to me is about priceless. You just can't go buy one on a whim.

denster, that was about right where I figured the value range too. It is hard to qualify, no doubt.

444, yep, I know he was in those books for sure. My Pop used to do the whole buckskinner thing. He took us to Friendship quite a few time when I was a very little kid. I grew up camping in a teepee whenever we went camping, which was quite often actually. He and his buddies used to trade things (bp guns, knives, tomahawks, etc.) around all the time. That's how I wound up with some of the really cool stuff I have.

Definitely though, the H. House rifle is the top of the heap. It's my favorite by far and I totally love shooting it. It gets lots of love and attention to say the least. I do keep it in really good condition too. It was my Pop's favorite and he loved shooting it as much as I do.

 

[Jaymo]

Yep. Foxfire 5. I highly recommend it, as well as the whole series, to anyone interested in BP guns.

That is a very nice Southern Mountain Rifle. It's like my Dixie/Miroku Tennessee Mountain Rifle, only a LOT nicer. When I bought mine, someone had shoved a stack of pennies into the grease hole on the stock. It took me a couple of hours to remove them, AFTER I figured out how to do it without drilling.
I promptly melted some of my homemade patch lube and poured it full.