The Moravians

 

Christian's Spring was a small religious community located in Pennsylvania, north of Philadelphia. It was settled by a group called the Moravians, who had come from Europe. They came mostly from the areas in and around what is now called Germany.

By the mid 1700's, the Moravians were establishing Christian's Spring as a center for commerce. They were skilled in several arts, including- music, blacksmithing, lock making, and firearms repair and making.  In these early years, it is likely that most of the firearms produced were assembled with parts that had mostly been made in Europe. But, over time, the Moravians became more self reliant and were able to produce the parts needed  for gun making.

 

These early guns have a beauty all their own. They are my favorite style of longrifle. Although each maker had his own "look", the Moravian firearms often share certain features. There is often a step in the area where the wrist meets the underside of the butt stock. This is commonly referred to as a "stepped toe". Many of the rifles from this period had an early brass patchbox, often with a side opening hinge.  Over time the hinge was moved to the "top" of the patchbox, on the end nearest the wrist. Sliding wood patchboxes were also used, but the brass patchbox would eventually become far more common.  The butts on these guns are usually fairly straight, with very little crescent, and they are also wide and tall. Often, the butts measure 2 inches or greater in width and at least 5 inches tall.  This adds greatly to their overall architecture.

 

Many of the great early gunmakers can trace their beginnings to the Moravian communities. Such men as William Antes, Andreas Albrecht, Christian Oerter, and Jacob Dickert were involved with the Moravian communities in Pennsylvania and produced some of the finest firearms of that time period.  For those of you who don't follow the history of the American longrifle, this list of names is a veritable "who's who" of the early stars in this trade.

 

 

 

I have included here several pictures of a couple rifles I have built that follow this early style of longrifle.

 

 

"Twigg" Rifle

John Twigg was a gunsmith who worked in London during the late 1700's. He turned out some of the finest guns of the time, especially during the period from 1775 - 1790.

This gun is a representation of a rifle that was part of the "Packington Collection" as shown and described in the book "Great British Gunmakers  1740 - 1790. The history of John Twigg and the Packington Guns". This book was written by W. Keith Neal and D. H. L. Back.

The rifle has a walnut stock, .54 caliber, 31 inch D-weight barrel, a Davis Twigg lock, and Jim Chambers' thimbles.The hardware is steel.  The styling of this rifle is  typical of a British sporting rifle from this time period.  The gun I copied was originally built in 1779.

Due to the short heavy barrel, one might worry about the gun's balance. In fact this gun feels wonderful in the hands and holds as steady as a rock. It is my personal deer hunting rifle and performs quite well in the field and at the range. It is a joy to carry and shoot.

Pipe Tomahawks

Pipe tomahawks have always intrigued me. There are countless accounts of longhunters, pioneers, military representatives, and politicians taking the time to share a pipe while visiting with, or discussing the myriad issues with the original inhabitants of our lands. The Indians saw this as an integral part of the process of any discussion. The reason I find these so intriguing is the fact that they were a combination of peace making and war making in one object. "Smoke softly, but carry a sharp axe" would be an apt description of their not so subtle meaning.

 

The pipe hawk I have created here is one example of the many styles of pipe tomahawks that were seen across our continent.

 

The head of this hawk was forged for me by H & B Forge to my specifications. I had asked for a general shape of the head and bowl, but with plenty of material to allow for shaping to the finished profile I was trying to achieve. They delivered exactly what I was looking for. The handle, or haft, is from Dunlap Woodcrafts and is a very hard and tight grained piece of curly maple.

 

I filed the hawk to shape and then engraved the borders and images seen on the head of the hawk. The mouthpiece is poured pewter. The engraved hunters moon shows a slight smile on one side, and a slight frown on the other side of the hawk, symbolizing the pipe tomahawk's potential for multiple personalities. There is a sterling silver decorative band inlaid into the wood of the haft. The hawk has been slightly aged.

Hello folks.  Welcome to my blog on flintlocks, early American and European rifles, fowlers, and accoutrements.    From time to time I will be updating these pages with pictures of my work and topics that I have found interesting regarding this time period in  history.  I have included some sample pictures here of a recent rifle I built that traces its lineage to the Klette rifle of Virginia..  I hope you enjoy your stay.