Post by spence on Jun 30, 2022 10:51:27 GMT -7
The rifle by Jos. Bogle is an interesting one. Built in eastern Tennessee in the 1780-1790 period, it's a bit different from what most people think of as the typical longrifle. It is entirely iron mounted, has no carvings or inlays, an atypical cheek piece, etc. There is a good article about it in the October 2006 The Gun Report. The article is quite long, so I'll just post the conclusion and some pictures.
V. Conclusion.
This rifle was made by Joseph Bogle, Jr., a Revolutionary War veteran, who had served with patriot units from Pennsylvania and Virginia, for his friend and neighbor, Capt. Robert McTeer, also a Revolutionary War veteran from Pennsylvania, while they both were pioneering in the French Broad region of East Tennessee. Its maker and owner most certainly saw action against the Indians in Tennessee during the decade following their arrival in the mid 1780s and, most likely, so did this rifle.
The rifle is in the style that Bogle and McTeer had both grown to admire during the years they spent in the Valley of Virginia. It is not one quickly identified as a Tennessee rifle whereas the banana patchbox rifle made for McTeer a decade or so later is the archetypical Tennessee rifle. This pioneer rifle, like its maker and owner, was of the frontier, influenced by Pennsylvania, Virginia and the French Broad, and by years of hostility in a beautiful and bold new country. The stories Bogle and McTeer could tell rests with them in the Eusebia Churchyard. The rifle alone remains, bearing silent but eloquent testimony of a time and place of transition, discovery, sacrifice, courage and nation building.
Overall length 61”; octagon barrel 44 ½”, caliber .46
Hind sight 12 3/8” from breach; fore sight 1 ½” from muzzle
Barrel diameter: at breach 1”; 12” from breach 7/8”, at muzzle 15/16”
Barrel held with four iron keys
Lock, English marked “Ketland & Co” 4 ¾” x 1”, attached with two bolts
All iron mounted; width of butt plate 1 11/16”; 4 9/16” high, attached with one screw in each extension
Nose cap held with a single iron rivet
Wrist width 1 11/32”, height 1 13/32”
Pull 13 ¾”
Forearm distance from breech to offset at tail piece is 12 5/16”
Tang bolt screws into the trigger plate
Guard rear held with wood screw, front pinned
Spence
V. Conclusion.
This rifle was made by Joseph Bogle, Jr., a Revolutionary War veteran, who had served with patriot units from Pennsylvania and Virginia, for his friend and neighbor, Capt. Robert McTeer, also a Revolutionary War veteran from Pennsylvania, while they both were pioneering in the French Broad region of East Tennessee. Its maker and owner most certainly saw action against the Indians in Tennessee during the decade following their arrival in the mid 1780s and, most likely, so did this rifle.
The rifle is in the style that Bogle and McTeer had both grown to admire during the years they spent in the Valley of Virginia. It is not one quickly identified as a Tennessee rifle whereas the banana patchbox rifle made for McTeer a decade or so later is the archetypical Tennessee rifle. This pioneer rifle, like its maker and owner, was of the frontier, influenced by Pennsylvania, Virginia and the French Broad, and by years of hostility in a beautiful and bold new country. The stories Bogle and McTeer could tell rests with them in the Eusebia Churchyard. The rifle alone remains, bearing silent but eloquent testimony of a time and place of transition, discovery, sacrifice, courage and nation building.
Overall length 61”; octagon barrel 44 ½”, caliber .46
Hind sight 12 3/8” from breach; fore sight 1 ½” from muzzle
Barrel diameter: at breach 1”; 12” from breach 7/8”, at muzzle 15/16”
Barrel held with four iron keys
Lock, English marked “Ketland & Co” 4 ¾” x 1”, attached with two bolts
All iron mounted; width of butt plate 1 11/16”; 4 9/16” high, attached with one screw in each extension
Nose cap held with a single iron rivet
Wrist width 1 11/32”, height 1 13/32”
Pull 13 ¾”
Forearm distance from breech to offset at tail piece is 12 5/16”
Tang bolt screws into the trigger plate
Guard rear held with wood screw, front pinned
Spence
