#573- NEW Fancy Bucks Co flintlock rifle probably by Andrew Vernor, the original rifle belonged to John Frie, who was the leader of the Frie's Rebellion, protesting a tax on the number of windows in a man's house.  It is 50 caliber, straight 15/16th inch octagon barrel 40 inches long by Ed Rayl, brass furniture on an AAA maple stock, Premium Siler lock by Chambers, DST,  with a brass side opening patch box engraved 'John Fries Gun' and Vernor's inimitable incised carving. It is traditional in every sense. Photos of the real thing can be found in  Kindig's, "Kentucky rifles in the Golden Age". Now at Trackofthewolf.com. Deal with them if you wish to buy it.

#603- BARELY USED (6 SHOTS) French Fusil de Chasse, C grade, 20 bore with 40 inch octagon to round barrel, gorgeous AAA maple stock with fierce tiger stripe (not really visible right now because of my not so good photography), all fancy brass furniture. Made for shooting ball but can handle shot as well. It comes with Colonial brand interchangable chokes, a .615 for ball and a .580 super-full for turkey. Very graceful, well balanced and quick in the hand, much lighter than you would think. The French were in the forefront of arms design as early as the late 1600's. This design surfaced in the 1700's and was imported by the shipload. It was a favorite on the Eastern frontier. The gun is available now.  POR Make me an offer I can't resist. 

READ DOC'S STORY OF THE HUNT USING THIS FOWLER 'THE DUMBEST TURKEY IN THE WORLD'

#574  Doc-built repro of early FlintLock rifle by Dickert, slim and light with 7/8" octagon 40" barrel in 50 cal by Rayl, nice AA piece of maple, Chambers best flintlock, single trigger, brass furniture, very early patchbox and carving. Pull is 14', weight 7 lbs and a little, light for a long rifle. The rifle is now at Track of the Wolf, goto their website 'trackofthewolf.com' for great pictures. Deal with them to buy it.

#575- Bedford Co. Longrifle, copy of a fine rifle by Thomas Oldham,  with 45 caliber Rayl barrel 42 inches long mounted in AAA fancy maple stock, L&R traditional Bedford Co. flintlock and DST' Furniture is brass with silver accents. Drop on the stock is pretty steep, good for offhand shooting. The rifle mirrors the early style flint rifle, with more carving and less inlay work. The Bedford rifles heavy with inlay were all made late in the 19th century. Now at trackofthewolf.com, get in touch with them to buy it.

This rifle is amazingly light, right around 6 lbs.  There are more photos in Custom-Traditional above.   SOLD

There is a traditional double bolted tang, touch-hole is SunSetted properly, the DST is  a specific model for Bedford Co. rifles. The lock is one of the better designed and executed on the market. The internals are even more elegant than the external parts. As an aside, I once visited Calvin Hetrick in Maryland back in the 60's. He had hundreds of these lying around the house. He is long gone and so is the collection. It's very hard to find an original now and even more expensive to buy one.

#624 Doc built English Sporting RIfle 451 caliber, used but in great condition. Douglas 451 barrel in perfect condition, mountedin Red English finished laminate  straight gripped stock with inch thick butt pad. Traditional flat springed percussion lock with heavy but handsome Manton style percussion breech. Very accurate, capable of long range shooting. DST can be finely tuned. Best load is 70 grains Pyrodex-P and a 460 grain White or No Excuse slip-fit bullet. I watched this rifle take down a good sized sheep at 125 yards one day. The critter went over like a tree and hardly wiggled. This is a great hunting rifle capable of target work. $800 OBO

This rifle started life years ago as a prototype for White Systems, but never was accepted so never came into production. As such, it is one of a kind. It came back into my hands through a trade up to a more expensive fancy rifle. More pics are available under 'custom traditional' above

#625  Doc designed and built in-line Double Rifle, 504 caliber, regulated for 600 grain Slip-Fit bullets, previously owned, has been to Africa twice, has taken the bigger plains game and buffalo. Actions are in-line, very similar to the Doc-designed Whitetail and M97 rifles. Sights are on the money at 50 yards with bullets from both barrels grouping together. Best load is 120 gr PyorodexP with 600 grain White or No Excuse slip-fit bullet. It was traded back in on a finer rifle.

A fuller description and more photos can be found under 'custom traditional' above. POR OBO

102- Doc built Whitworth style small bore target rifle, 451 caliber with 1-18 twist and shallow  .035 grooves for tighter fiting multi-grooved lubricated  520 gr bullet. Barrel is by Douglas, tapered round and browned, Sights are fancy tight click rear tall peep and wind-gauge front with spirit level. Trigger is sengle set with very light touch-off. There is a British style Decelerator recoil pad, pull is 14 inches, weight about 9 lbs. This set-up is very accurate, uses 80 gr Swiss ffg Black powder withe 520 gr Whitworth style bullet sized to fit bore at 451, needs to be cleaned between shots for finest accuracy, shoots MOA on windless days. Best I ever did with it is a 4 inch group at 600 yards. Has about 400 shots through it, used only by me and that sparingly. Haven't shot it for 4-5 years, eyes are not up to the game any more. It has had meticulous care. POR Make me an offer I can't resist.

This is a great rifle. See the complete work-up on it in the 'custom-traditional' section, above

#577- Wender over-under swivel breech- Lancaster style flintlock over-under rifle with 3/4 inch diameter Bill Large barrels in 45 cal for round ball (I've been saving those barrels for years). Stock is AA good quality maple, furniture is brass, the flintlock is back action, the swivel lock mechanism is in the front bow of the trigger guard, pull on it to swivel the barrels. Dickert style Lancaster furniture. The lock sparks quite well, no difference either side. SOLD

There is a terrific photo collage of this rifle in 'custom traditional'

#579- Very fancy Jaeger rifle by DOC, repro of an elegant one by Paul Poser, 31 inch swamped 58 caliber barrel by Colerain, Elegant chisled flintlock, handmade by DOC, elegant AAAA European walnut, DST, chisled brass furniture including brass insert in the patchbox lid, elegant carving and engraving. This is a beauty!! POR There are much better photos of the gun under CUSTOM TRADITIONAL above. POR OBO

#597 Doc built lighter LEFT HAND Hawken rifle, plain but extremely sturdy maple stock, Green Mountain 50 caliber octagon barrel one inch across the flats and 32 inches long. rifles with 1-66 twist for patched round ball. All iron furniture except silver fore-stock ovals, (not there yet in the lower photo) and silver nose-cap. There are no known antique left handed Hawken rifles, but this one is as close as you can get with a repro. POR

Pull is 14.4 inches, for the taller among you left-handers out there. Weight a bit heavier than the other two light Hawkens illustrated, because of the solid wood. All parts are top quality, nothing better available on the market.  For sale OBO as is, in the white, or finished, later.

The styling is classic with all the expected Hawken features like: long bar DST attached with double bolts to a long tang full length of the wrist, double keys with silver surrounds, double steel ramrod ferrules, Modena type rear sight with silver front in brass base, scroll iron trigger guard, beaver-tail cheek-peice in front of curved iron Hawken style butt-plate.  It does make a handsome and elegantly functional rifle. 

#598 Lighter Hawken percussion half stock rifle by DOC. Plain Plus walnut stock. Green Mountain barrel in 50 caliber, 1" diameter, 32" long, 1-66 twist for patched round ball. Absolutely traditional in every way. 14 inch pull. All iron furniture. Silver trim. All the Hawken features you have come to expect, like double bolted wrist, long bar DST which fires set or unset, long tang, double keys in silver surrounds, stout 7/16th inch ramrod, double ferrules on soldered rib, silver nose cap. Barrel and most furniture  browned, lock  finished antique blue, barrel will be marked 'Hawken- St. Louis', my GBW cipher will be found on the bottom of the barrel. For sale as is, or finished, later.  POR

#599 Sporty Hawken rifle by Doc in 54 caliber with fancy AAA tiger striped maple stock, Green Mountain barrel 1" diameter X 32" long, 1-66 twist for patched round ball. Iron furniture with silver trim,  trigger guard has the occasionally seen spur.  14 inch pull.  Hawken features  like double bolted wrist, long bar DST which fires set or unset, long tang, double keys in silver surrounds, stout 7/16th inch ramrod, double ferrules on soldered rib, silver nose cap. Barrel and most furniture will be browned, lock will be finished antique blue, barrel will be marked Hawken- St. Louis, my GBW cipher will be found on the bottom of the barrel. Absolutely traditional in every way. For sale as is, or finished, later.  Classic Hawken features throughout. POR

#600 Bridger Hawken 58 caliber by  DOC, AAA maple stock, tapered Kelly barrel 32 inches long  with 1-72 twist for patched round ball , Classic Hawken conformation withy all the minor details exactly right, copies the Hawken that belonged to Bridger now in the collection of the Montana State Historical Society, Doc designed the master for the stock carving during his GRRW years. All iron furniture including fore-end cap, silver trim, adjustable step rear sight, long bar DST double bolted to tang, this is as close a copy of the original Bridger rifle as there is available. Available as is, or finished, later.  POR 

#621 Early Fullstock Percussion Hawken rifle, 50 caliber, one inch octagon GreenMountain barrel 40 inches long, great-grained but plainer walnut fullstock, traditional engraved flat spring lock signed J&S Hawken, double-bolted long tang, Hawken percussion breech with flat-to-the-wrist trigger guard mounted on long DST bar. Traditional in every sense of the word.  The walnut needs to be sanded and oiled and the iron needs browning, but its for sale as it is, or later, finished. POR OBO. Watch for more pics as it progresses.

The the furniture is iron except the German silver key surrounds. There are three flat keys. The DST fires set or unset.  The sights are a Modena style rear and G. silver blade front on a brass base. The only thing missing is the iron Modena style patchbox. Watch for it to appear as the gun finishes up. This will make a superb hunting rifle.

#652- White early experimental Model 97 with non-production stock made of a heavy Delrin-like plastic, only one ever made, has a double palm swell and is fitted with safety slots on both sides of the action so it could be fitted up either left or right handed. This one is the only one I know of that has the cocking handle on the right and the safety on the left (the standard M97 is just the opposite) Action is stainless, barrel  by Criterion (best of all the barrel makers), it has a custom Warne top scope base and is shown with Warne QD rings and a Leuopold scope. The base comes with the rifle, the rings are extra, the scope is just for show. $400 OBO

the photo is backwards just in case you get confused.

#654 WHITE WHITETTAIL EARLY NUMBER  BLUED STEEL IN .504 CALIBER WITH BLACK TEFLON FINISH.  209 conversion kit included. All standard accutrements except the ramrod shown is wood, by the time it gets to you the RR will be standard Delron tipped by brass drilled and tapped for accessories. The stock is plain but stout walnut with a pebbled black finish.  Thumb safety is on the right, cocking handle on the left as on all standard Whitetail rifles. Sights are by Williams with red bead front and adjustable rear. The recoil pad is a full inch thick. Already accurized and a proven shooter. Fired 6 times for accuracy. $350 OBO

#623 Gemmer-Springfield trapdoor rifle in 40-65 caliber built on 1869 marked black powder only action with new octagon 40-65 barrel by Kelly. AAA grade Bridger Hawken style stock with iron furniture and silver trim. You can see that the hammer nose needs some forge work. . More photos to follow as the rifle makes progress.

After Jake Hawken died of the Cholera and Sam eventually retired, their shop was purchased by Gemmer, who continued making rifles in the Hawken tradition. When cartridge guns came to dominate the frontier, he added  custom rifles, like the reproduction illustrated below, with distinctly Hawken features. There are only a few known. An original will cost you a fortune.

More photos are available in 'Custom-Traditional" above