Original Southern Mountain Rifle Photographs
Series #11
Gentlemen, there's many novices who just don't know what an original Appalachian, East Tennessee, Southern Mountain, bear or hog rifle really looks like. Unfortunately, they git a hold of a catalog, buy up all th' cast iron parts listed, slap'em together, an' then tell everone they built an "EXACT" replica of Joe Hillbilly's squirrel rifle. Yeesss, indeedy! They saw the picture inna catalog and now they have a real McCoy in their hands.............SO.....I'm offering these photographs from my personal collection for their education AND your enjoyment. I'll swap'em out ever once in a while. CAVEAT: Some of these photos are intended for use in a book later on and just might be copyrighted. If you want to use'em on your website an' don't have th' balls to ask permission.....don't.
Series 11 of this album features a fine ol' bar' rifle that has been heavily used and abused. It is rather famous as it has been featured in a couple of publications as being the rifle that was found in an old cabin with the barrel plumb full of bear grease. This rifle is featured by the express wish of brother Jim Sichlau of Princeton, Illinois. He picked the rifle up from Jerry Noble. Hope you enjoy the seven photos we chose of this old Tennessee work horse.
Here is the right side of the butt. Grease hole is about caliber size.
Here is her good looking lock. Nice trigger guard, too!....and I do like those triggers.
The forearm and ram rod entry areas.
The muzzle area with no nose cap and one iron thimble.
Now take a gander of this "over the comb" tang. Eat your heart out, Ken!
Look closely, fellers. This rifle has a most unusual repair performed upon it. Wood wound up missing along the tang for one reason or other and was repaired with what was at hand. Most probably by the owner. Can you tell what it is? It's a leather patch that has been nailed in place! Anyone out there ever made a repair like this? I shore ain't in my 36+ years.
Now, this rifle's barrel was known to have been full of bear grease clean up to it's eye brows. So how'd the bore fare after all those years of laying about in less than agreeable climate? Take a gander.
That's one damn fine bore to me, boys! Thanks for the pictures, Jim.