Built in the Southern mountain style, this long rifle has been neatly fit and finished by Caywood Gunmakers. Stocked in curly maple the rifle is trimmed in iron furniture all of which has a dark blue finish. Lightly used the rifle has a few marks on the frizzen, and small handling marks. The .40 caliber bore is bright and ready to shoot. The Southern Mountain Rifle has a dark walnut finish with cherry red undertones. Weighing in at very light weight 5.9 pounds even the rifle has a trigger reach of 14” making it well suited for today’s average to larger size shooter.
The heart of the rifle is its .40 caliber swamped octagon barrel. The .40 caliber bore is rifled with seven lands and grooves with a slow twist for patched round ball. The bore is bright and has been well maintained. The swamped barrel is thickest at the breech, tapers to a narrow waist, and flares slightly at the muzzle. Measuring 38” in length the barrel has smooth dark blue finish. The rear sight is located 14” forward of the breech and is complimented forward by a brass blade front sight set 1-5/8” behind the muzzle.
Stained to a walnut brown, the curly maple stock exhibits some figure in the buttstock. The rifle appears to have seen little use and has only a few small handling marks. The rifle is fitted with a gently curved crescent buttplate, decorated with a wedding band on the comb. All the screws and bolts are neatly fired blued, the slots are neatly aligned. The top view of the rifle shows off the tapered comb of the rifle and the slender wrist with lollipop tang. The lock panels taper widest at the rear in early long gun fashion.
From below, the bottom flat of the stock can be seen. A thumbnail shaped toe plate has been installed on the rifle, held secure by two fire blued screws. Moving up the stock the iron triggerguard has a hand forged style and is finished to a dark blue. Matching the toe plate each finial of the triggerguard is shaped with the cast rope band design. Three ramrod pipes, one entry and two forward, hold the ramrod in position. The pipes have the decorative rope band design at each end. The ramrod is fitted with a brass tip with 8-32 threads for loading and cleaning accessories. A iron muzzle cap has been installed to protect the end grain of the wood in that position, like the buttplate to the rear. Two fire blued bolts secure two separate sideplates. The forward sideplate has a sideways tear drop design while the rear sideplate has an lozenge design. Rearward on the rifle a classic squared cheek is shaped and accented with incised carving.
Ignition is provided for the rifle by a square tailed Ketland style flint lock. Properly tuned the lock functions very well, it has a strong mainspring and engages each position as intended. Finished a dark blue, the lock neatly matches the barrel and iron furniture. Combine the lock with our hand knapped 3/4” English gun flints and it should send a shower of sparks into the pan. The lock has been stamped with the words: LONDON WARRANTED. A fire blued tumbler screw and top jaw screw add to the beauty of this .40 caliber Southern Mountain Rifle. Behind the pan a direct drilled vent has been installed in the barrel. Coned from the outside, we much prefer traditional vent liners with a deep parabolic arc on the inside. Correctly positioned well above the bottom of the pan, to serve as a window on the center of the heat of the incandescent flash in the pan. The double lever double set triggers are adjusted to allow setting the triggers, or cocking the lock, in any sequence. This nice feature is essential on a longrifle that will be used for hunting big game, during cold weather.
This longrifle is very light weight and handy with the .40 caliber 38" swamped octagon barrel. The rifle appears to have seen little use based on the marks on the stock. Order it for a ten day visual inspection. You will be delighted. Else if it does not fit you, return it in unfired condition for same-day refund. Postage is your only risk, when you order any one-of-a-kind gun from Track, whether new, used, or antique.
