.

Looking that load up is on my list. 

That group was 70 gr GOEX FF, linen patch.  Or, infamous Commander load.......

Slotted front sight tube. Is it a help or not when shooting that lovely piece? 
I like it, but happy you are the one paying to feed it.

You're older than I am, Jack ole buddy. 

Isaac. Twist is gain. Hard to tell exactly what the final is. Makes one quarter turn in first ten inches at the muzzle.  Has false muzzle but cut for cloth patch. 

Rifle is unmarked but has several Nathaniel Whitmore features. Nice original condition. All screw slots are still clocked as new. Single set trigger.

8 groove. .530 bore, groove diameter is .540. Weight is 26 pounds 10 ounces.

Kick in the butt to shoot. 

Only date for Nathaniel Whitmore I have says active 1855, Potsdam New York. 

Is that picture Jack Lalanne at 95? He really went downhill that last year, RIP.

Iron mounted rifle.  Still dust and grime on it. Stock is grungy. I been applying Old English Polish and Restore a Finish to get the wood looking better. Coming along.

Thank you Fritz. You know these old heavy rifles usually had a scope mounted. 

I like shooting iron sights, so when I saw this rifle had to have it. Rare to find one with the original sights.  Will be fun coming up with the best load and bullet. At this point I'm not really sure it's not a slug gun.  

False muzzle is turned for a patch so guess I better stick with picket rifle.

Back action lock.  The shade on the rear sight may be made of brass.

It's safe. July here, no fire needed now. Keeping it where I can admire it.   

Gorgeous rifle, Joe; but I'd bet that buttplate soon plays havoc with the shooter's shoulder, even at 26-1/2 pounds.

Also. I agree that the lines suggest Whitmore's style.  The briefest of internet searches turned up this information about Whitmore:

Born at Mansfield, Mass., in 1829, and learned the trade in his father's shop. Worked for Sharps Rifle Co. and Remington. Died in Eastondale, Mass., in 1917.  Maker of heavy barrel, muzzle loading, percussion, target rifles with set triggers.

Several of the Whitmore guns I've seen have been quite fancy, especially for target guns.  In fact, if I remember correctly, his most famous gun is a superb cased and accessorized rife that was gifted to Gen. Grant; it's now in the Smithsonian, I believe.

Bill Lawrence

Bill, sure you're not referencing Nathaniel Whitemore? 

There was more than one Whitmore and one Whitemore.

I'm not going by lines but rather details in rifling profile, trigger and trigger guards and pipes. I have a marked Whitmore rifle to compare this one to. In Ned Roberts book is illustrated a similar rifle to my marked Whitmore. Ned lists it as, "N Angel". 

Trying to nail down the makers of unmarked pieces can be very frustrating. To add to the frustration is the "Webster" stamped under N Whitmore. Owner? Dealer?

If the rifle was held to the shoulder at all, it was placed at the junction of the shoulder and bicep.  Same as an offhand Schuetzen rifle.

I've also seen a Nathaniel L Whitmore.   

Text from, American Firearms Makers, by A Merwyn Carey.

Gives me a headache after while.

How does that flat-base picket ball work with a cloth patch?  I thought that was part of the reason for swaging the base to be hemispherical.

Poor Joe; this is obviously getting to you, but I'll try again.

Whitmore, not Whitemore, made Grant's gun.  I rather suspect "Whitemore" is someone's typographical error.

At various times, Nathaniel John Whitmore used the stamps "Nathaniel J. Whitmore", "N. Whitmore", and "N. J. Whitmore" - i.e., they're all the same person.

Finally, to give you an even bigger headache, the stamp "N. & N. G. Whitmore" is the father-son team of Nathaniel John and Nathaniel Gilbert.

But don't worry so much about it; just enjoy your really great rifle.

Bill Lawrence

The bullet pictured earlier in this thread, is from a mold I re-cut. I picked the wrong mold to re-cut and didn't do a very good job doing it. Got the diameter correct for a linen patch however. 

I made the bullet longer than the typical picket bullet of long ago to get more bearing surface. The rifle shoots the lumpy out of round bullet surprisingly well with no tipping. 

Sounds like you have a great outfit, Waterman.  Going to post pictures?

My old friend Ted Thoreson told me that a picket bullet can be extremely accurate once you get everything down prefect. Told me they like to be pushed hard and fast.

The only pics in the file to date are a few of the muzzle.  None are very different.

Craig,
Got the description "back burner" from David Goodrich.  The powder chamber is drilled inside the breech plug.  The nipple is located at the rear of the barrel.  Fire from the percussion cap ignites the main charge about 3/4 of the way towards the front of the charge, not far from where the patch wraps around the base of the bullet.  Reduced loads are not possible.  There would be no way to ignite them.   

FWIW, twist is 1 turn in 22 inches.  If I put an unlubed .44-40 lead bullet and no patch in the false muzzle, a big deep breath will blow it out the breech end of the barrel when the breech plug is removed.  Thereby proving that I'm full of hot air.

westerner wrote on Jul 29^th, 2020 at 2:34am:


That exceeds my technical ability by 1.3 Light Years.

Wow - what a neat old rifle.  Thanks for sharing!