I'm trying to find information about what rifles Farrow used in match shooting.  My keen interest is in the year 1884 when he was working for Bullard.  That year Farrow traveled the country competing (and primarily winning matches).  Scott Jamieson outlines much of this in his Bullard Firearms book.  He prints many excerpts from various Forest and Stream articles.  I've also just finished reading Farrow's, "How I became a Crack Shot" book.  All I know about 1884 is Farrow won all of those matches with a Bullard Repeating rifle.  But whether it was a large or small frame rifle, and in what chambering, is a mystery I cannot solve.  Interestingly, in his book I just read, he doesn't mention the slightest details as to what rifles he used in his various U.S. and overseas matches or even what caliber he was shooting.  I have seen examples of the, "Farrow rifle" but this came after 1884.  I am a great fan of Bullard repeating rifles, but I find it of particular interest that in 1884, Farrow was outshooting top match shooters who were using the finest single-shot rifles of the day and he was doing so with a repeating rifle.  Information, thoughts, comments, speculation much appreciated.

It seems he was a fan of the 32-40 and 38-55 for the midrange stuff. 44-100 and 45-100 for th Creedmoor
You may want to dig a little deeper in the match scores, doesn’t seem as tho he was quite the great long range shooter as his book lets on.

It's pretty well documented that Farrow shot a Ballard rifle for a very long time, and was doing so from at least the late 1870's on. Whether he was still shooting it in 1884 specifically might be tough to document, but I find it tough to think he'd stop shooting a gun he won so many matches with for one year?
What I can guarantee is it wasn't a Bullard single shot rifle he shot in 1884 since they weren't patented until 1886. So if he didn't shoot a Bullard, then why change from the Ballard?

marlinguy wrote on Apr 21^st, 2024 at 11:27am:


I suppose the simple logic is he switched from his usual target rifle in 1884 because he was working for Bullard and primarily hired by Bullard to promote their rifles.  As you suggest, the Bullard single-shot wasn't available in 1884, so he shot the only option - which was a repeater.  Wouldn't this have been of big news back then - a fellow winning all those matches - with a repeater?  Who else was at the top of the match winners using a repeating rifle during that time period?

Schutzenbob wrote on Apr 21^st, 2024 at 12:51pm:


So in this photo, Farrow is back row, third from the right?

GeneB wrote on Apr 21^st, 2024 at 1:13pm:


It may use similar workings that didn't require every part to be applied for a patent again, but the Bullard single shot action and rifle actions don't share much. The single shot actions being slimmed down from the repeater action and much lighter than their repeaters.
I'm not a Bullard historian, and others may know far more about what the patent was, or why sources tell me the single shot was first cataloged in 1886. I do know catalogs often date a year after models are actually built.

Gene, I think those patents were actually issued on a Tuesday

More about WMF after Dec. 31, 1884.  My ideas from here on:

Farrow had the basic design of his single shot action in mind. I think Farrow borrowed or rented Bullard's tool room or machine shop and Bullard's stock-making shop and employed their principal machinist and their head stock-maker to (a) teach Farrow how to be a machinist, (b) to teach Farrow the stock-making trade, (c) to teach Farrow how to rifle barrels accurately, (d) to develop a working prototype action, and (e) to build a demonstration model rifle.

Farrow wasn't working from a new box of crayons. He was an accomplished watchmaker (gears, levers, pins and springs) and he'd been in the gun business for at least 11 years. Going from memory (re: Dick Chamberlain's 1962 Gun Digest article), the first Farrow was demonstrated in April, 1885.

With ZERO proof, I'll advance the idea that ALL of the 200+ Farrow stocks were produced on Bullard machinery, and from wood that Farrow purchased from Bullard.  I suspect all the work was done in 1885.

All of Bullard's and Marlin's action parts were forged by Rogers & Spencer, Hartford, CT.  I'll continue with my ZERO proof idea that all of Farrow's parts also came from Rogers & Spencer, again in 1885.

I'll get back to this tomorrow.

Yes, modesty wasn't a trait in Farrow's writings. I've often wondered if he came off the same face to face?

waterman wrote on Apr 21^st, 2024 at 10:32pm:



Waterman - Fascinating!  Keep it coming.  What do you suppose the chances are that I'll ever know the particulars of the Bullard Farrow was shooting?  Large frame?  Caliber?

The logistics of the whole summer-long marketing tour must have been a challenge.  Everything had to be thought out ahead of time.  A different venue every week-end, an advance man working a week ahead.  If I were doing it, I think I'd want at least 100 rifles, 10 to a case.  And at least 2 strong guys (thugs?), maybe 3, to do the heavy lifting & provide security.  And another guy back at the factory keeping track of things.  The guy at Bullard would be a clerk, literate & numerate, somebody who could write reports, fill orders, & report to the boss.

After leaving SF, Farrow et al stopped in Ogden, Utah for a few days. Put on a show and probably met the Browning brothers. That must have been interesting.

marlinguy wrote on Apr 22^nd, 2024 at 5:23pm:


I certainly echo this.  Very helpful and interesting reading.

Waterman - 

Simply fascinating history!  Very interesting to read.

boats wrote on Apr 24^th, 2024 at 8:09am:

waterman wrote on Apr 24^th, 2024 at 10:36pm:


In referring to large frame and small frame rifles, were these single shots or repeaters?

Going back to the Parker example and “what I think “vs what I know. 

Doubt if Parker exhibition shooters transferred shotguns to buyers at events. They only built to order & inventory on hand not likely.

There are surviving records from known top Parker shooters like Dubray that show many guns ordered, more than individual would likely buy. Same situation with well known gun dealers multiple orders without individuals names. Other records have the individuals name and not repeated. They all detail guns specifics,  gage, stock dimensions # of pellets delivered at distance etc.

If we use that example on rifles not likely a small maker  would have inventory at events.  I think Waterman has it right. 

Boats

waterman wrote on Apr 25^th, 2024 at 4:36am:


Yes, he was using a repeater and my speculation is he was using one chambered in .45-70.  I remain interested in the fact that he was traveling the country in 1884, demonstrating the rifles and winning matches.  The Bullard is a very fine rifle.  I don't know if I can post a link here, but here is Mark Douglas from The Cinnabar Ranch, describing and demonstrating a Bullard repeater.  He does a great job of it (and he has a ton of vintage rifle/vintage gunsmithing videos that are highly enjoyable to watch):   

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Continuing my Farrow tale:

Abbie’s parents may not have been thrilled by a quickie private wedding, but WMF and Abbie made their marriage a success.  They had 3 children; their first child was a girl they named Emily. Their 2nd child was another girl, Louisa, born 9 months to the day after her parents’ second stay at the Creedmoor Range hotel, and then a boy.  Music was a central part of their lives together and was a major factor in deciding where each of Farrow’s future workshops would be located.

All his adult life, WMF was deathly afraid of tuberculosis, not an unreasonable fear in the 19th Century.  The cause and cure were then unknown, but most of those contracting “consumption” died.  TB was thought to be associated with big cities and “bad air”.  Newport had clean air and its main industry was catering to the wealthy.  All in all, a good place to avoid TB and raise kids.  Abbie was content, as were her parents and Jerusha.  There were 2 little girls to raise.
  
But Farrow was on the go.  The WMF I’ve studied probably worked out a profitable deal with the sole wholesalers of Ballards, the firm of Shoverling & Daly of New York City.  Farrow began to sell J.M. Marlin-Ballard Long-Range rifles in mid-1877, both on his own and also, via his brother Tom, at their sporting goods store in Newport.  Probably he began shooting them soon afterward.  The Long-Range No. 7 Ballards were better target rifles than either the Sharps or the Remington products, even if the early Ballards had Sharps barrels. 
 
One report I read (can’t remember where) told me he traveled to California in December 1877.  That would be out of character for WMF.  His actions, time after time, demonstrated that his family was his #1 priority.  My opinion is that he was home in Newport for the holidays, but in early 1878, less than 2 years after Custer went down at the Little Big Horn, Farrow took a winter business trip to San Francisco, riding in a coal-burning passenger train across the plains and through the snowy Sierras.  

Because it was winter, it seems unlikely that Farrow made many stops to demonstrate and sell Ballards.  A business trip?  What business?  Perhaps WMF personal business; prize money and side bets from the West Coast winter and spring matches.

Just thinking about that trip boggles my mind.  WMF was a planner, a guy who was always thinking several steps ahead, and a guy who concentrated on the details.  I think he was a man who had to be in control of every situation, a micromanager, yet he gets on a train in the middle of winter and sets out for Frisco. 

Everything on that trip was totally beyond his control, full of risk. WMF was touring for the money, but only if the odds were in his favor.  This winter trip is very much out of character.  The Indians were not all pacified, living on reservations with good paying jobs at the casino.  The buffalo may have been hunkered down for the winter, but they had not all been turned into robes and leather belting to drive machines in America’s factories.  Did the precursors to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid work in the winter?   

I grew up in a RR town on the prairie.  As a kid, I saw old steam engines that had been converted to snow blowers.  Dad’s home movies show rail traffic stopped by drifting snow until the snow blowers showed up.  Did they have snow blowers in 1878?   

I imagine Farrow dressed warmly, wrapped in a buffalo robes, and dreading the next trip to the unheated rolling restroom.  Did the trains run 24/7 or did they stop at night, the passengers staying in RR-operated hotels?  How long was the trip?  My guess is 8 to 10 days, changing trains several times. 
 
In April, 1878, in Alameda, California, WMF won first place in a San Francisco Turnverein Schuetzen Match; 60 shots offhand at 200 yards, German ring target. Score was 1268 out of 1500 points.  He reportedly won enough in side bets in the San Francisco Bay area winter and spring matches to support his family in reasonable style for two years.  How much was that?

After the Alameda match, he went east, probably giving demonstrations, selling Ballards, and entering matches.  In June, 1878, he won a 600-shot offhand match at the Union Hill range in Morris, New Jersey.  600 shots offhand?  The matches lasted all day, but how many of us could do that?  WMF wasn’t a big strong guy.  He is described as standing 5 foot. 9 inches and weighing about 140 lbs.   

I’ve seen some articles saying the family lived in New York City in 1879 because WMF worked for Shoverling & Daly.  I’ve not yet found any first hand evidence.  Early in 1880, WMF and Abbie decided they had been apart far too much.  They bought a house at 3 Howard Place in Jersey City, NJ, so that WMF could commute to S & D.

Waterman, very nicely done, please keep it coming

On the topic of Bullard single-shots, here is, I believe, the rarest one ever made.  I talked to Perry about this rifle a couple decades ago:

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Edit:  note the patent date of 1881 on this single-shot rifle.

waterman wrote on Apr 26^th, 2024 at 2:13pm:


All very interesting.  Can't wait to read more!

With his contacts among America’s wealthiest people in Newport, and with Shoverling & Daly’s contacts in NYC, Farrow knew enough to away from the NRA’s 1877 Creedmoor Matches because the whole show was headed for bankruptcy.  Instead, he toured Pennsylvania and the upper Midwest that summer & fall.  What sort of arrangements would WMF and S&D have made?  Take a bunch of Ballards, insist on hard currency in payment, and then have carry around hundreds of pounds of gold and silver coins?  Or demonstrate a few Ballards, take small deposits against future delivery, and do all the business by mail or telegram?
But what about WMF’s personal winnings?  Were the socks in his suitcase full of double eagles?  Did he sleep with a Colt .44 under his pillow?

Another tidbit from 1884.  In Bullard Firearms, Scott Jamieson writes, “In late December 1884 the Bullard company had to duplicate a case of guns that went missing a month earlier in transit to the New Orleans Exposition.  Farrow, who had charge of the display, said the exposition was chaotic.  Colt also suffered a similar disaster.”

I sure wonder where that case of Bullards went.  Surely they were ultimately sold.  How would a collector know if they had one in their collection?

BullardShooter wrote on Apr 27^th, 2024 at 8:36am:


Jamieson tells about the trip on p. 60 of his 2nd edition, Bullard Firearms. 
Pittsburgh PA, Wheeling WV, Indianapolis, Chicago, Milwaukee, then across Minnesota, to Montana, to Washington Territory (and presumably through one of the Dakotas and Idaho), to Oregon (mention made of Portland), and then to San Francisco. Then east to Salt Lake City and Ogden, Utah. Then home. Prep started in March 1884 and he returned to Springfield, Mass., is September. Trip covered some 10,000 miles, Farrow participated in about 50 matches, winning most of them, and fired some 4,000 cartridges. 

There is a photo of Teddy Roosevelt and 2 associates with Bullard rifles, photo taken in N. Dakota during TR's days there. Would that be associated with Farrow? 

Since the Large-Frame repeater was the only model then in production, and since it was made in .45-70 Gov't., I assume that Farrow took several with him, all .45-70, none with proprietary cartridges. That made resupply easier.  He was a long way from the factory, with what was really an unproven product.  He probably took spare parts and some tools.

What was the accuracy shelf life of a .45/70 BP cartridge in 1884?  Would WMF have taken cartridges in sealed tins?

waterman wrote on Apr 27^th, 2024 at 12:57pm:


If I am it's news to me! But I was just replying to BullardShooter's comment about the stolen rifles.

waterman wrote on Apr 27^th, 2024 at 12:43pm:


Waterman -

Thanks for the reminder of what Scott wrote in his book regarding Farrow's 1884 travels.  It seems these days I can remember something I read 50 years ago easier than I can remember something I read last week.   

1884 sure sounds like a whirlwind trip for Farrow.  He must have been a driven man with a good amount of energy.

As far as guns stolen 140 years ago, I have no idea how far back a statute of limitations would apply.  It is an interesting question. I can't see I've seen anything that would apply.  I have heard of stolen guns being return to original owners - but the owners have still be living.  In this case, I doubt the serial numbers of those stolen Bullards are available anywhere.

My 4th Model Farrow in .22 LR is a great offhand rifle, as long as you understand its funky behavior.  Other than as an offhand rifle, I'm not sure.  I think it depends on what you want to do with one and what Model you have.

Arthur Corbin Gould, owner, publisher and editor of The Rifle, was a rifleman of the old school, valuing accuracy above all.  ACG cared not a whit for repeaters and viewed breech-loading single shots as having a lot of unnecessary parts, all of which detracted from a rifle’s accuracy.  To increase circulation of his magazine, and to push his point, ACG arranged for a rifle match at the spring 1886 meeting of the National Rifle Club in Vernon, Vermont.

The National Rifle Club had been around since the 1850s.  Members shot heavy muzzle-loading rifles from the bench or from machine rests and used telescopic sights.  Distance for the matches was 40 rods.  Scores were “string measure”, the cumulative distance from the center of each bullet-hole to a pin-head sized mark, measured to the nearest 1/16th of an inch.  The winner of a 30-shot match often had a “string measure” of about 36 inches, sometimes less.  On today’s target, a winning score would almost all the of the 30 shots in the 25-ring, with only one or two going into the 24-ring.   

The match was to be between the National Rifle Club members using their heavy rifles and, by invitation, some of the nation’s leading marksmen using their breech-loaders.  Willard Milton Farrow was one of the invitees.  The match was to be held on May 26, 1886.

In the spring of 1885, Milton needed to promote his rifle and was probably delighted with the invitation.  He would have a letter of acceptance in the mail within a day or two.  He recognized that he had to gain some experience with benchrest shooting and with the use of a telescopic sight.  The National Rifle Club’s range at Vernon, Vermont was only about a 2-hour buggy ride north of Brattleboro.  (The people at the Brattleboro Historical Society had never heard of the National Rifle Club, either.)

The spring meeting of the National Rifle Club was held on May 26 and 27, 1886, at the Vernon, Vermont range.  One 10-shot string measure target was shot on the 26th, two on the 27th.  Eleven competitors finished the match.  As expected, the 15 lb. muzzle-loaders won the day.  First place went to D.A. Brown, shooting a Horace Warner .45, with a 412 grain bullet and 123 grains of powder.  The center of his average shot was 1 and 3/16” from the center of the bull.  The next 3 places went to men shooting Norman Brockway’s rifles.  All had string measures less than 49 inches.   

waterman wrote on Apr 27^th, 2024 at 8:16pm:

Question, I presume the photo shown of the shooters was from the match in question. If so can you comment why Farrow is holding a Ballard rifle and not his own? Not the best way to promote his rifle.

Hope no one minds me showing these pics, but this is my "Farrow" inspired rifle that I built some number of years ago. It is a takedown (which required some amount of thought as to how to get the breechblock to be held up without the typical spring mounted on the barrel) and in 40-60 Maynard caliber. 

Yes, you did a very good job. I would like to see some more pictures of how you did the takedown. He generally used a tapered pin. I made molds off of a double set trigger Farrow that had a 32-40 and a 38-55 barrels for it.

LRF wrote on Apr 28^th, 2024 at 7:26am:


Odd. There is another photo from the ASSRA Archives that is too big to reproduce here. It shows all the participants. WMF is holding something, but the photo is too dark to tell what it is.  Ellsworth holds the Ballard.

Yes.  That is the photo.  The caption I saw said it was taken by Arthur Gould, publisher of The Rifle at the May 26 & 27, 1886 match. The photo date is probably May 27, because there were more men at the match on that day.

I count 19 men total.  There were 11 men who shot for score on May 26 and 14 on May 27.

I am confused. The first photo of the supposed match with just a few guys does not match the photo of the shooters I posted. In the first photo the guy with the Ballard I believe is Harry Pope. Certainly not Milton Farrow. Farrow had a heavy beard clearly seen in the second photo. Different shoots, different days.

My version of a Farrow. Extra step on top to use a breech seater.

Waterman, Excellent, best discussion I have seen of a very interesting gentleman.
Chuck

Miller F Model

LRF wrote on Apr 28^th, 2024 at 7:26am:


Oops. That is Pope, not Farrow!  mea culpa!

marlinguy wrote on Apr 29^th, 2024 at 1:55pm:
Then Marlinguy wrote: Are you sure about that? Pope would have been mid 20's at the time of that picture. The 3rd guy looks way too old for that to be Pope. [/quote]

Nope, I'm not sure.  WMF in the May 27, 1886 photo, the one with all the men ID'd  on the back, has a full beard, maybe trimmed a bit.  Other formal photos of WMF in the 1880s also show a full beard, only slightly trimmed. Looked like some sort of religious prophet.

But Pope wore his beard closely trimmed.  He also shot at the National Rifle Club spring & fall meetings in the 1890s, when the same men from the 1886 photo were still shooting their old Warner, Brockway, and Warner & Lowe muzzle-loaders.  So the photo could be 10 years or so more recent than the 1886 photo.

Getting away from photos of long dead guys and back to WMF and his rifles, how many were made, and where they were made:

Farrow called his Brattleboro operation the "Farrow Fire-Arms Company."  I’ve never read any report or seen any photograph of a Farrow rifle or barrel stamped or engraved “Farrow Fire Arms Company”.  He had one or more rubber stamps made up that way and may have had some business stationery printed, but that’s it.  No guns, no actions, no barrels.  

In his 1962 Gun Digest article, Richard Chamberlain reported that the upper flat of the octagonal barrel of nickel-plated brass frame prototype is engraved “Farrow Fire-Arms Co.” in script, with an arrow piercing a target. That rifle is .32/30 Remington caliber and is not numbered. The prototype was made in Springfield, Massachusetts and was first demonstrated there. 

I think Farrow only produced a few rifles while in Brattleboro.  In his very nicely done book, Joe Ruth organized Farrow rifles (and photos and descriptions) by his (Joe’s) type classification.  That is the best attempt at a chronological listing we’re apt to see.  Joe wrote that he didn’t want to introduce any speculation, but I will.  I think most of the Farrows made at Brattleboro are unnumbered, with unmarked barrels. All are what Joe has described as First Model Short Wall actions.

We know for sure that there were two Brattleboro Farrows.  

The first is the rifle Farrow used in the May 1886 match.  It had a 20X Malcom scope. It was photographed with WMF in 1886.  An entirely different photograph appears on Page 50A of Phil Sharpe's The Rifle in America, first published in 1938. This is No. 2 in Joe's list.

As a result of the Spring 1886 match, Norman Brockway rebarreled one of Farrow’s rifles to “a competitive caliber”.  Brockway gave the rifle a heavy barrel, bringing the rifle’s weight up to 15 lbs.  The barrel was given a .34 caliber liner, 8 shallow grooves, left-hand 15-inch twist, and a false muzzle cut for paper cross-patches, and was fitted for a mechanical bullet starter.  Brockway made 4 steel cartridge cases for the rifle, but brass .40/65 cases can be resized.  The rifle was fitted with a 20x Malcom scope.  The rifle was made for C. L. Cobb, a member of the Brattleboro Gun Club and one of Farrow’s shooting companions.  Cobb wanted to try a breech-loader under the National Rifle Club’s 15-lb. rules. #3 on Joe's list.

Gerald Kelver wrote about this rifle in the 1950s.  Where is it now?

Attaches are photos of the rifle in the 1962 Gun Digest article by Richard Chamberlain