swoter
Contributing Member
Bought an old percussion rifle a while back off a guy whose dad had died and left him several guns.
Got it apart right now to clean it up a bit, and can't find many markings on it. The lock is a silver color with "H. Elwell" and "Warranted" surrounded by a circle, and has a pheasant and a couple of geese near the rear. Underneath the barrel is an "H T", and on the side it looks like a very small bird's head is stamped.
The barrel is 28" long, about 45 caliber. The nose cap is held on by two screws from the inside of the stock under the barrel. The stock is longer than a half-stock, more like a 3/4, and held in place with a wedge. Looks like maple, has a nice grain to it. The trigger guard is held in by pins, not screws, crosswise through the stock. the tang has a wood screw, not one that goes all the way to the trigger. The percussion system is a drum and nipple, neither of which are frozen by rust (luckily!).
The guy I bought it off of knew nothing about it, looks to be fairly old but in decent shape. Barrel has some surface rust, and looks to be developing a patina, bore is bright and shiny with 8 lands.
The ramrod is very small, about a 1/4 inch in diameter, with the last 4 inches or so swelling out to about 5/16 inch. The brass bolsters are also 1/4 inch, and are on dovetails on the rail which runs under the barrel held on by 2 screws. Can't remember the name at the moment. Don't know how someone managed to use the rod, it looks very flimsy to me.
The hardware is brass, and it has the double trigger. I can't remove the trigger housing from the stock, looks like the wood has swelled around it, its certainly stuck anyway. Everything else came off fairly easily. Looks like the wood has been refinished at one time, there are remnants of a reddish color under the nose-cap.
Any info would be much appreciated. I know H.Elwell was a lockmaker in the middle 1800's, but thats about all I know.
Got it apart right now to clean it up a bit, and can't find many markings on it. The lock is a silver color with "H. Elwell" and "Warranted" surrounded by a circle, and has a pheasant and a couple of geese near the rear. Underneath the barrel is an "H T", and on the side it looks like a very small bird's head is stamped.
The barrel is 28" long, about 45 caliber. The nose cap is held on by two screws from the inside of the stock under the barrel. The stock is longer than a half-stock, more like a 3/4, and held in place with a wedge. Looks like maple, has a nice grain to it. The trigger guard is held in by pins, not screws, crosswise through the stock. the tang has a wood screw, not one that goes all the way to the trigger. The percussion system is a drum and nipple, neither of which are frozen by rust (luckily!).
The guy I bought it off of knew nothing about it, looks to be fairly old but in decent shape. Barrel has some surface rust, and looks to be developing a patina, bore is bright and shiny with 8 lands.
The ramrod is very small, about a 1/4 inch in diameter, with the last 4 inches or so swelling out to about 5/16 inch. The brass bolsters are also 1/4 inch, and are on dovetails on the rail which runs under the barrel held on by 2 screws. Can't remember the name at the moment. Don't know how someone managed to use the rod, it looks very flimsy to me.
The hardware is brass, and it has the double trigger. I can't remove the trigger housing from the stock, looks like the wood has swelled around it, its certainly stuck anyway. Everything else came off fairly easily. Looks like the wood has been refinished at one time, there are remnants of a reddish color under the nose-cap.
Any info would be much appreciated. I know H.Elwell was a lockmaker in the middle 1800's, but thats about all I know.
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