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Post by brokennock on Sept 7, 2021 0:31:56 GMT -7
Did any of the gunbuilders/stockers in the colonies keep production records, or records of orders for guns, that have been found?
Just wondering if we have any idea how many guns some of the builders of the time built during their career.
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Post by travis (54ball) on Sept 19, 2021 22:39:37 GMT -7
The short answer is yes.
Two builders immediately come to mind.
Jacob Dickert...
Very Prolific, had a contract to build rifles during the Revolution and into the Federal period. Dickert pretty much had a factory. I suppose many and maybe even most surviving Dickerts are from said factory. The "Alamo" Dickert is a good example. The carving is rather crude suggesting failing eyes or apprentice work.
The master would supervise the factory. Many signed rifles may carry the signature but were actually built by apprentices or journeymen.
John Phillip Beck....
Beck is interesting and he was active until his death, if I remember right, 1811. I don't know if JP Beck had a factory per say but his rifles and guns were prized. He was most definitely a master.
He has strong links to....
Of course Christian Beck his son...
The Lauks...JP Beck was married to a Lauk
Probable links to....Hold on to your hat! The Bulls, Russells and Beans of Tennessee/Alabama Rifle fame. The Bulls can be linked to Beck through the Lauks. Early John Bull rifles look remarkably like Beck Rifles.
It's a small world.
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Post by artificer on Sept 25, 2021 20:44:12 GMT -7
Did any of the gunbuilders/stockers in the colonies keep production records, or records of orders for guns, that have been found? Just wondering if we have any idea how many guns some of the builders of the time built during their career. All of them kept account books/ledgers where they recorded what jobs they did and the prices charged. Shortly after it was first published in 1974, I bought my copy of this pamphlet book that has some information from some of gunsmiths in VA, but not a huge amount. books.google.com/books/about/The_Gunsmith_in_Colonial_Virginia.html?id=V7WtToEDvYsCThis is the only book I personally know of that has such information, though more can be gleaned from historical societies. Gus |
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Post by armando on Oct 19, 2021 18:35:33 GMT -7
Great stuff and great topic Nock!
Now another book I need to get!
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