Kentucky long rifle ID help !!!

[1stVaINF]

Just picked this beauty up from my aunts !she said I would be much more proud to own than she would. I could barely speak! It says blue grass on the side . I will post a ton of pictures when I get home . Any one familiar with these rifles and if so , are they traceable to see if they were an actual issue ? Thanks in advance !!!

 

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[Red James Cash]

I found this for you in a forum.

"Bluegrass" was a trade name used by the Belknap Hardware Company of Louisville, KY. The company was founded in 1840 by William Belknap and initially sold iron and forged iron parts. As the company grew, it added other hardware to its lines, including gun locks, which it had made by other manufacturers and then marked with its own tradename, one of which was "Bluegrass." Since the firm did not sell gun locks when it opened in 1840, "Bluegrass" locks probably did not appear until the mid-1840s or later; they continued to be sold until the start of the twentieth century. The Bluegrass name was also used on other hardware products sold by Belknap Hardware in Louisville.

 

[NOLA_Ken]

I'll check back later for pics.... By issued do you mean Civil War?

 

[1stVaINF]

Here are some quick pics before I get her oiled down. My aunt said that rifle has been in the corner of that same room since she can remember . So at least 50+ years

 

[1stVaINF]

I'll check back later for pics.... By issued do you mean Civil War?

Yes I mean civil war

 

[NOLA_Ken]

Yes I mean civil war

It's not a military gun, so no it would not be issued from an armory or arsenal. It was someones hunting gun, and I would doubt that it was used in the war. That doesn't take anything away from it though, it's a really nice looking rifle, and one I'd be proud to have on my wall. Did your aunt know any of its history?

 

[1stVaINF]

I just called and talked to her, she doesn't remember who's gun it was but she said both my sides of the family had members in the confederacy . She mentioned the only reason she wanted me to have it is because I have been diggings in the hot sun like it was my job, and how excited I got when I showed her what I found that day. So it must of rang a bell for her to just want to give me that one certain thing in the back of a room full of junk. Literally had to climb over decades of toys to get to it. She lives a mile from spotsylvania courthouse. I just wish I had some more to go on. when I look up the name carved in the top of this barrel.i pray it is a registered soldier . Just because it wasnt issued by an armory or arsenal does NOT mean a confederate did not carry that rifle during the war! My family has been there for generations , on the same farm land .

What is the best (easiest) way to get records of names of soldiers from a specific area ??

 

[Red James Cash]

One thing to know is that it could of been converted from a flintlock.The gun its self could be older than the percussion lock.Also the name on the barrel could possibly be the blacksmith,gunsmith,who made it.Pennsylvanian and Kentucky were not mass produced items.The best course of action would be to carefully take it apart and see if any other names show up.The downfall of using those rifles in battle was they took a long time to load.During the revolutionary war companies were made up specifically of rifle men.They saw different duty than the soldiers who carried smooth bore muskets.

 

[NOLA_Ken]

I think Red is right about the lock being a replacement, it definitely does not match the cut out in the stock. I'd be willing to wager that it started life as a flintlock, and someone later replaced the lock and installed the drum and nipple into the flash hole.

As to a Reb soldier carrying it off to war, I suppose anything is possible, but I can't imagine there being anyway to ever prove it short of written documentation from that time. Either way, it's still a cool old rifle, and I think your aunt gave you a wonderful gift

 

[duggap]

It looks to be a small caliber. If it was carried in the war, and many men brought their own guns with them, it would not have been carried for too long as supplying it with ammunition would have been a major problem. The young confederates standardized their weapons as soon as it could be done. But it did take a lot longer for the south than it did for the north to accomplish this. I know if it were me, I would have sought a larger caliber weapon as soon as I could get one.

 

[releventchair]

Homesteads still needed arms . For vermin and for food and it would be hard to leave to fight with no weapons for those who stayed.
Started its life as a fine rifle. Set triggers are a step up in accuracy from a single. The drum I don,t recognize with its flats on it. The lock plate is cut to fit under drum in a different pattern than just a half hole. The hammer itself almost looks like it is from a left handed lock. Sure seen use and that's what it was made for.
Where ever it traveled it kept probably more than one person alive and fed. War hard on a rifle and were someone somehow lucky enough to return a rifle to its home before the war it would be extremely fortunate indeed for both of them as there were uses for any arms available if someone managed to upgrade.
A local historical society may be of help to you . Here's a place found but I have not tried it.
https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki...te_Soldiers_(FamilySearch_Historical_Records)

 

[BosnMate]

That lock has definitely been added later, it's not the original lock to the gun. Those guns were built with an excellent wood to metal fit. It's way older than the civil war, and odds are if it was carried in combat it was during the Revolutionary War. Many of those early long rifles were built with no makers name. I don't see a patch box in the butt stock, which is an aid in identifying those rifles. What is really needed is more pictures of both sides, what the side plate, the butt plate, and the over all shape of the rifle looks like can be a big help in attempting to identify. These guns were called Kentucky long rifles but were for the most part were made in Pennsylvania along with lesser numbers from N. Carolina and Ohio. Andy Jackson's riflemen went to New Orleans with that style rifle in 1814. For more information check out the book,
[h=1]The Pennsylvania: Kentucky Rifle: by Henry J. Kauffman (Author)[/h]This book is about the rifle that was made in America by gunsmiths who migrated to Lancaster Co., Pa., from central Europe in the first half of the 18th century. This intensive study and exacting research by Kauffman has brought to light a tremendous amount of information on America's first great rifle. First printed in 1960, this book has an extensive listing of gunsmiths and the stylized work of the makers. Various rifles are identified with many photos and sketches and documentary data. Reprinted in 2005.

You might be able to get it at your library, and it's for sale on Amazon.

 

[DigIron2]

that's a neat rifle.Your great -gr -gr grandad could have gotten it from his father, modified and took it to war?In some cases small southern towns would basically form militia's and head off to war with whatever they had from home.