Introduction
Dyed-in-the-wool rifle cranks realize that old-time Pennsylvania gunmakers typically used some commercially produced gun parts, instead of making every part themselves — especially as the availability of commercial parts improved. Casual admirers of muzzle loading firearms may not be aware of this aspect of old-time muzzleloader gunsmithery. I created this page for the casual admirers, in order to:
As you read through the examples below, remember that the main components of a gun — which were also the most difficult components to manufacture — were the barrels and gun locks. Considering the increasingly efficient distribution of commercially made products over time, it is all the more remarkable that many Bedford County gunsmiths and some Somerset County gunsmiths continued to produce their own hand-made gun locks and some other small parts.
L. Dietle
My objective in creating this web page What the early long rifle scholars thought
Kindig comments on the transition to commercially produced locks and barrels
Kauffman comments on the early transition to commercially produced gun parts
Dillin's 1924 book mentions commercially made barrels and locks
Examples of commercial parts being sold in or near Somerset & Bedford counties
A mid-18th century gun lock sold by the Ohio Company
Conrad Atley purchased gun parts at the Rieley store in the late 1700s
Peter White purchased gun locks at the Rieley store in the early 1800s
1842 & 1844 Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania procurement-related records
An 1854 advertisement for gun parts, iron, steel & smithery tools in Morgantown
A 19th century Somerset hardware store selling "a full line of Gun Repairs"
A 19th century Somerset hardware store selling gun parts
Examples of commercial parts being used in Somerset & Bedford counties
A commercially-made barrel on a Somerset County, Pennsylvania rifle
A commercially-made lock on a Samuel Mier rifle
A commercially-made lock on a Samuel Conrad rifle
A commercially-made lock on a Daniel B. Troutman rifle
Unused left-over gun parts appear to be commercially produced items
Early examples of commercial parts being imported into Pennsylvania and Maryland
Imported gun locks for sale in Annapolis during 1761
Imported gun barrels, locks, and furniture for sale in Philadelphia during 1769
A Philadelphia gun parts wholesaler in 1773
Imported gun locks offered for sale in a 1784 Philadelphia newspaper
A Philadelphia gun lock &c. wholesaler in 1800
Examples of commercial parts being produced in Pennsylvania
Lancaster production of gun locks and barrels
"The Borough of Lewisberry" section of the 1886 book "History of York County Pennsylvania" includes the statement, "There were a number of gun barrel factories along Bennett’s Run; among the persons engaged in the business were Samuel Grove, John Rankin, George Blymire and John Foster."
Berks County production of gun barrels
Gun barrels manufactured in Pittsburgh
The "Statistics of Pittsburgh, Pa." section of the June 29, 1854 issue of the "Country Gentleman" journal states, "There are two rifle barrel manufactories, making about 12,500 per annum, and consuming 75 tons of the best iron."
Page 110 of the "Directory of Pittsburgh, Allegheny, Birmingham, &c. for 1856-57" lists the "Nobel & Little, gun barrel factory". This may be the firm that James Little was involved in. His obituary in the September 12, 1890 issue of the "Pittsburg Dispatch" includes the following: "Wednesday night at 10 o'clock, James Little died at the residence of his daughter, Mrs. John M. Cook, in Steubenville, O. Mr. Little was born in Washington county, Pa., in 1807. Alter learning the gun making trade, he removed to Steubenville early in the 30's, and engaged in the manufacture of gun barrels. He was also a manufacturer of jeans, woolen goods, fabric-making machinery, etc. In 1848 his factory in Steubenville was destroyed by fire, and he removed to Pittsburg and established a gun barrel factory, which he operated until 1860, when he was again burned out."
Click here to see an excerpt from the 1857 book "Pittsburgh as it is" which indicates that 16,500 gun barrels (per year) were then being manufactured in Pittsburgh.
Postley, Nelson & Co. is listed as a gun barrel manufacturer in the 1859-60, 1860-61, 1861-62, and 1868-69 issues of George H. Thurston’s "Directory of Pittsburgh..." In these publications, there are also various individuals who are listed with occupations related to gun barrel manufacturing. Postley, Nelson & Co. also ran a large advertisement in the 1867 "Pittsburgh and Allegheny County Almanac" indicating that the company manufactures gun barrels and various other items.
Enterprise Gun Works of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania had an advertisement in the May 8, 1878 issue of the Tionesta, Pennsylvania newspaper "The Forest Republican" that includes the statement, "ALSO, MANUFACTURERS OF STEEL AND IRON RIFLE AND SHOT GUN BARRELS". The advertisement was repeated in many issues of the newspaper, and indicates the firm was established in 1848. In the 1879 book "Industries of Pittsburgh", a puff piece titled "JAMES BOWN & SON — Enterprise Gun Works, 136 and 138 Wood Street" includes the statement, "For more than thirty years the name of Mr. Bown has been identified with the gun business in the Iron City, the Enterprise Gun Works having been established in 1848 by Bown & Tetley. In 1862, Mr. James Bown became sole proprietor, and in 1871, Mr. Wm. H. Bown, his son, was admitted and the firm name became James Bown & Son, under which style it has continued to the present day. They occupy three floors of the large double store, 30x60, at Nos. 136 and 138 Wood street, employing twenty-six skilled workmen, and their weekly pay-roll amounts to about $275. Their stock, which is full and complete in every variety of Guns, Rifles, Revolvers, Fishing Tackle, Sportsmen's Articles in General, Razors, Scissors, Pocket and Table Cutlery, is estimated at from $20,000 to $25,000, and their annual trade is now about $70,000, extending over the greater portion of the United States from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. While they are large manufacturers of Rifles, Rifle-barrels, Shot Guns, etc., they also deal extensively in the best articles of foreign and American make, doing a large wholesale as well as retail business." James Bown ran a large advertisement in the 1867 "Pittsburgh and Allegheny County Almanac" that indicates he is a "manufacturer and importer of guns, rifles, pistols, hardware, cutlery, gunsmith’s materials, &c." Curiously, I did not find any offerings for domestically produced gun barrels in an 1876 Enterprise Gun Works (James Bown & son) catalog.
The return address on an October 18, 1886-postmarked envelope addressed to "Adolph Kastor Esq New York NY" states, "RETURN TO BROWN & HIRTH, MANUFACTURERS OF GUNS, RIFLES, GUN BARRELS AND ALL KINDS OF SPORTING GOODS, 520 & 522 WOOD STREET, PITTSBURGH, PA." According to the 1953 book "American Gunmakers", in 1886 the firm of Brown & Hirth advertised that their employees have extensive barrel making experience, stating: "the hands we employ have been making Rifle Barrels for over thirty years, with the late firm of Messrs. Postley, Nelson & Co., who carried on the Gun Barrel business for a period of twenty-five years. " A description of the history of Brown & Hirth is provided in the 1889 book "Pittsburgh and Allegheny Illustrated Review". From that description, it appears that Brown & Hirth was a successor of James Bown’s Enterprise Gun Works.
Examples of commercial parts being offered for sale in western Pennsylvania
John Fraser lost a large quantity of locks at the Battle of Fort Necessity
Gun locks offered for sale in an 1816 Pittsburgh newspaper advertisement
Gun locks offered for sale in an 1817 advertisement
Gun locks offered for sale in an 1826 Pittsburgh newspaper advertisement
Pittsburgh hardware stores selling gun parts
The 1953 book "American Gunmakers" indicates that the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania firm of Logan & Kennedy was a manufacturer of rifle locks — presumably based on having seen a Logan & Kennedy-brand lock. To me, it seems extremely unlikely that the Logan & Kennedy firm was a manufacturer of gun locks because it was a wholesale and retail hardware company. In other words, I think the firm was probably importing any gun locks it sold. The Logan & Kennedy advertisement in the "Pittsburgh — Merchants in 1836" section of the 1837 book "The Western Address Directory" includes the statement, "LOGAN & KENNEDY, PITTSBURGH. IMPORTERS & WHOLESALE DEALERS IN Hardware, Cutlery, Saddlery, &c, No. 89, Wood street, Pittsburgh." The Logan & Kennedy firm is included in the list of "Wholesale and Retail Hardware Merchants" in the 1844 book "Harris' Business Directory of the Cities of Pittsburgh & Allegheny". An extensive puff piece about the firm that was published in the 1888 book "Centennial history of Allegheny County" makes no mention of manufacturing. Also see the description of the company in Volume 19 of "Hardware" (1899).
The Joseph Woodwell hardware store advertisement in the 1847 "Harris's general business directory of the cities of Pittsburgh & Allegheny" lists rifle barrels for sale. Click here to see a Joseph Woodwell hardware store advertisement in the December 13, 1947 issue of "The Pittsburgh Daily Gazette" newspaper that offers "Gun trimmings" for sale.
A page in "Fahnestock's Pittsburgh directory for 1850" includes a Huber & Laufman hardware store advertisement that lists "Gun Trimmings" for sale, and includes a Wolf & Lane hardware store advertisement that lists "Rifle Barrels, Gun Trimmings" for sale.
The hardware store advertisement of B. Wolf, Jr. in the 1864 book "The Oil Regions of Pennsylvania" offers "RIFLE BARRELS, GUN TRIMMINGS" for sale in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Bown & Tetley offers gunmakers materials for sale
An Ebensburg hardware store selling gun locks &c.
Great Western Gun Works
The "Gunmaker's Materials" section (pages 16 to 28) of a mail order catalog from Pittsburgh's Great Western Gun Works company advertised all manner of commercial gun parts for muzzle loading firearms. The company also sold new muzzle loaders by mail order, such as a half-stock rifle that belonged to my relative Ephriam Geiger, who lived in Larimer Township of Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Pages 31 and 32 of the catalog explain how to order and pay for goods, and indicate that the goods can be delivered by freight or by express.
Click here to see the illustrated 1871 Great Western Gun Works wholesale catalog. Gun mountings are on pages 28-29, nipples are on pages 30 & 32, patent breeches are on pages 30-31, lock parts are on pages 31-32 & 35-36, gun locks are on page 33, double triggers are on page 35, rifle barrels are on page 37, and ordering instructions are on pages 38-39.
Remington barrels and other gun parts advertised
Gun locks advertised in an 1886 Pittsburgh catalog
Other references to commercially produced gun parts
An 1860 gun parts distributor in central Pennsylvania
F. G. Franciscus ran an extensive recurring advertisement for his Lewistown business in the September 26, 1855 issue of the "Huntingdon Journal". Among many other items, that advertisement listed "115 RIFLE BARRELS, assorted. 30 to 150 balls, weighing 7 to 11 pounds, warranted, with all kinds of Locks and best Rifle Trimmings, for sale by F. G. FRANCISCUS." The "30 to 150 balls" reference means the bores of the rifle barrels ranged from about 0.54-inch to 0.32-inch diameter.
An 1883 gunsmithing book mentions commercially made gun parts
A 1917 magazine article mentions the use of commercially made gun parts
The influence of railroads
Rail service to Cumberland commencing in 1842
Rail service between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh commencing in 1852
Rail service between Cumberland and Pittsburgh commencing in 1871
Hardware stores took advantage of rail service
Misc.
When I think of Kauffman’s comment about brass gun mountings sometimes being cast by a local foundry, I am reminded that the town of Bedford, Pennsylvania had an operational foundry and machine shop shop beginning circa 1842 and in the same timeframe Somerset County, Pennsylvania already had more than one foundry. I do not, however, have evidence that these local foundries produced any gun parts.
I researched the information on this web page because, having grown up in western Pennsylvania, I have long wanted to have a better understanding of how the old-time western Pennsylvania gunsmiths obtained the commercially produced gun parts they used to build new muzzle loading rifles. The answer regarding the early days seems to include east coast importers, eastern general stores, Indian traders, and western stores operated by Indian traders and merchants. The answer regarding the later period seems to include general stores, wholesale and retail hardware stores, and firearms component manufacturers, with some of the larger entities offering mail-order services.
On pages 9 & 10 of his highly acclaimed 1960 book "Thoughts on the Kentucky Rifle in its Golden Age", Joe Kindig, Jr. opined that soon after the close of the Revolutionary War, American gunsmiths could purchase imported European gun locks and domestically produced gun barrel blanks at economical prices, and as a result most gunsmiths began using those commercially produced items, instead of making the items themselves.
On page 155 of his outstanding book "The Pennsylvania-Kentucky Rifle", Henry J. Kauffman acknowledges that as time went on, gun locks, gun barrels, and gun mountings could be purchased, and as a result American gunmakers really didn’t do much more than assemble parts. On the same page, Kauffman begins an extensive description of early American commercial barrel manufacturing activity that commenced before the Revolutionary War, including forging, welding, boring, and exterior grinding operations. On page 166, Kauffman opines that commercially produced brass gun mountings were readily available in hardware stores by the end of the 1700s, and indicates that such parts were sometimes cast in a local foundry. In fairness to the gunmakers who he previously reduced to mere assemblers on page 155, Kauffman did describe the challenging gun stocking operation on pages 166 to 168.
In John G. W. Dillin's pioneering 1924 book "The Kentucky Rifle", Chapter 9 is titled "Who Rifled the Rifles". In the table of contents, the overview of Chapter 9 states, "Many gunsmiths welded, bored, and rifled their own barrels; others procured them in various stages of completion, from blanks to smooth-bore tubes, from shops specially fitted to produce such work in quantity." In reference to the so-called Kentucky rifles, page 28 states, "The locks of the early rifles were largely home-made though later many were imported from England and Germany. Those of domestic manufacture were very plain but well made, and comprised about thirty per cent of the locks used."
Even before any significant settlement of the area that is that is now Somerset and Bedford counties, Pennsylvania, there is evidence of the commercial sale of gun locks in nearby Maryland. A July 26, 1750 record of "George Mason and the Ohio Company" documents John Ross selling himself a gun lock. I believe this would have been at the Ohio Company store erected on Thomas Cresap's farm at Old Town, Maryland before the store at Wills Creek was built. The store at Cresap's was approved for construction on March 29, 1750. John Ross was a local resident, and was evidently one of the storekeepers, along with Hugh Parker, who was the individual authorized by the Ohio Company to build the store at Cresap's place. Oldtown is about 17 road miles from Bedford County, Pennsylvania. By 1751, the Ohio Company had a new store at the present-day site of Ridgeley, West Virginia, which is directly across the Potomac River from the mouth of Wills Creek and the present-day site of Cumberland, Maryland, and less than 6-1/2 road miles from Somerset and Bedford counties, Pennsylvania. For information about subsequent early commercial activity at and near Cumberland, see the white paper titled "Commercial activity at Wills Creek before the founding of Cumberland".
The store ledger of Martin Rieley documents the Bedford County gunsmith Conrad Atley purchasing two rifle locks, a rifle barrel, and 4-3/4 pounds of iron in the 1796-1797 timeframe. The 2017 book "Gunsmiths of Bedford County, Pennsylvania" indicates that Conrad Atley purchased a silver lock at the Rieley store.
Articles by James B. Whisker in the July and December, 1982 issues of the "Muzzle Blasts" magazine mention two different sets of Bedford County merchant records. One set was from Martin Reiley's store and was owned by the Reiley family. The other was from an unknown Bedford merchant, and was at the Fort Bedford museum. According to the July article, the Reiley records show three gun lock purchases by Peter White, with one transaction involving 20 gun locks. The December article includes a photo of an 1813 store record that documents Peter White purchasing "Gun Locks". The July article also reports that the earliest Peter White transaction date recorded in the Reiley records was 1805, however the article doesn't identify the 1805 merchandise.
Click here to see gun part procurement-related documents that pertain to Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. One document references gun lock procurement by a store in Huntingdon, and the other relates to gun barrel shipments to Huntingdon via canal boat. Huntingdon County adjoins Bedford County. The town of Huntingdon is about 21 road miles from Bedford County and about 54 road miles from Somerset County. In comparison, Pittsburgh is about 55 road miles from Somerset County and about 80 miles from Bedford County.
Morgantown, West Virginia is about 34 road miles from Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Click here
to see an 1854 advertisement for an "Iron and Hardware Store" in Morgantown that offers gun locks, gun barrels, iron, and various smithery tools, along with English, German, and American steel. The advertisement is from the March 4, 1854 issue of the Monongalia Mirror newspaper of Morgantown. It is a recurring advertisement that began on December 16, 1852.
A recurring 1878-1880 advertisement of the Byers & Barnett Hardware Store indicates that the store had "a full line of Revolvers, Pistols, Shot-guns, Powder-flasks, Shot-pouches, Cartridges, Caps, Wads, Rifle and Shot-gun Powder, also a full line of Gun Repairs." I believe the "full line of Gun Repairs" statement indicates that the store stocked a full line of gun repair parts, such as gun locks, nipples, drums, springs, and hammers.
An advertisement by Holderbaum's Hardware Store in the September 15, 1886 issue of the "Somerset Herald" newspaper indicates that they were stocking gun locks, patch boxes, and nipples. Considering the late 1800s nature of the advertisement, I think it is likely that the patch boxes were what we call cap boxes today.
Jacob B. Reynolds is listed as a barrel maker with eight workmen in the 1850 census records of Steubenville, Ohio. The barrel of a percussion rifle that was made by the Somerset County gunsmith Benjamin Franklin Troutman (1780-1856) is stamped "REYNOLDS", and the stamping appears to match the stamp that Jacob B. Reynolds used. It is about 129 road miles between Benjamin Troutman’s place and Steubenville, Ohio.
Click here to see a rifle signed by the Somerset County gunsmith Samuel Mier that has a percussion lock stamped "JAs GOLCHER PHILADA".
Click here to see a rifle signed by the Somerset County, Pennsylvania gunsmith Samuel Conrad that has a percussion lock which is branded "JOSEPH GOLCHER".
Click here to see a Goulcher-brand percussion lock on a rifle that is signed by Daniel Benjamin Troutman, who made muzzleloaders in Somerset and Bedford Counties, Pennsylvania before moving to Ottawa, Franklin County, Kansas.
At least some of the left-over gun parts from the Lepley gunsmithing activity in Southampton Township of Somerset County, Pennsylvania appear to be commercially procured items. For example, see the rough-cast cap boxes and the unused hammers.
Click here to see Robert Swan’s advertisement in the April 16, 1761 issue of the "Maryland Gazette" for wholesale and retail items at his store in Annapolis, Maryland. One of the many listed items is gun locks.
Click here to see an extensive advertisement for imported goods that appears in the March 9, 1769 issue of the "Pennsylvania Gazette" newspaper. The items for sale include "rifle, fowling piece, and common gun barrels; brass mounting furniture for ditto; common, flat and half round fence gun locks..."
Click here
to see a February 17, 1773 example of a recurring advertisement for "gun mountings, barrels and locks" in the "Pennsylvania Gazette" newspaper, which was published in the port city of Philadelphia. The advertisement states that "a reasonable abatement will be made to such as buy a quantity to sell again..." Bedford, Pennsylvania was directly on the main road between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. That road also passed through what is now Somerset County, Pennsylvania.
Henry Deberger’s advertisement in the November 24, 1784 issue of the "Pennsylvania Gazette" includes "English and Dutch Gun-locks" in a list of goods he was offering for sale.
Click here to see Thomas Ketland's advertisement in the April 29, 1800 issue of the "Gazette of the United States & Philadelphia Daily Advertiser" newspaper. Among many other products, the advertisement offers imported "Gun Locks, &c. in Cases."
Page 114 of the 1960 book "The Pennsylvania-Kentucky Rifle" includes a reprint of an August 23, 1808 newspaper advertisement that announced a new Lancaster, Pennsylvania gun lock manufactory, which was named Daniel Sweitzer, & Co.
Click here to see a transcript of a late 1800s interview with Berks County, Pennsylvania gun barrel manufacturer Franklin K. Schnader, who reported that the Great Western Gun Works company and the James Bown & Son company (both of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) were among his principal customers at the time of the interview. In addition to describing how gun barrels were manufactured, the transcript provides the following description of how gun barrels were sold in the old days, before the barrel makers started to sell to wholesale hardware distributors: "Sixty years ago the gunmakers of these parts had to take the barrels they could not sell near home to the neighboring counties and states 'on the axle.' In those days the gunmakers didn’t receive any mail orders. They had to haul their barrels about and find customers wherever they could. As soon as a load was ready the proprietor of the factory or one of his men would start off. They had very heavy and hard-going wagons and generally very slow horses. The majority couldn’t afford to keep horses. They always traveled until all the barrels were sold, too, nearly every case making a circuit of a few hundred miles. Sometimes they made trips of 500 miles. One of those old gunmakers used to cross the Ohio river and trade with the Indians, who thought a great deal of the guns made on the banks of the Wyomissing. It often took a few months to sell a load of 75 barrels. The roads were rough and the wagons springless..."
Page 118 of "Fahnestock's Pittsburgh directory for 1850" includes the following statement: "There are also a number of manufactories of the smaller sizes of iron, several extensive manufactories of axes, hatchets, &c. spring steel, steel springs, axles, anvils, vices, mill, cross cut, and other saws, gun barrels, shovels, spades, forks, hoes, cut tacks, brads, &c." Another page in the same directory includes an advertisement for Postley & Nelsons, which indicates the firm manufactured hammered (i.e., forged) gun barrels.
Kenneth P. Bailey’s 1947 book "The Ohio company papers, 1753-1817" contains a transcript of the extensive list of items that the gunsmith & Indian trader John Fraser lost at the July 3, 1754 Battle of Fort Necessity. The list includes two bridled gun locks and six dozen (72) plain (presumably unbridled) gun locks. The battle took place approximately 12 road miles from what is now Somerset County, Pennsylvania. Prior to the battle, John Fraser had been living at the mouth of Turtle Creek, near what is now the town of Braddock in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.
According to Kauffman’s 1960 book "The Pennsylvania-Kentucky Rifle", Benjaman Darlington had an advertisement in the "Pittsburgh Gazette" on November 29, 1816 that offered German gun locks and Ketland gun locks for sale.
In reference to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Kauffman’s 1960 book "The Pennsylvania-Kentucky Rifle" indicates that the firm of Bosler & Co. had an advertisement that offered gun mountings for sale in 1817. "The Pittsburgh Directory for 1815" lists "Bosler & co. merchants, s. side of Front, between Market and Wood". "The Pittsburgh Directory for 1819" lists "Bosler & co. commission merchants, S. side of Front, between Market and Wood Streets." The 1898 book "Standard History of Pittsburgh" states, "In 1817 Bosler & Co. made ... brass gun-mountings..." That may be a mistaken interpretation of the referenced 1817 advertisement (that I haven't seen), since Bosler & co. is listed as being merchants in 1815 and 1819.
Isaac Harris’s advertisement in the September 18, 1826 issue of the "Pittsburgh Recorder" newspaper includes gun locks in a list of newly received consignment goods he was offering for sale.
The Whitmore & Wolff hardware company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and its successors Whitmore, Wolf & Co. and Whitmore, Wolff, Duff & Co. advertised the sale of gun parts. An 1845 advertisement mentions "a full and general assortment of RIFLE BARRELS AND GUN TRIMMINGS". An 1850 advertisement mentions "GUN TRIMMINGS, RIFLE BARRELS". An 1853 advertisement mentions "200 doz. Gun Locks; Gun Trimmings" (200 dozen is 2,400). An 1858 advertisement mentions "Guns and Gun Trimmings". Click here to see photos of a long rifle obtained in northern Somerset County, Pennsylvania that has a Whitmore & Wolff-brand lock.
The Enterprise Works advertisements in the 1859-60, 1860-61, and 1861-62 "Directory of Pittsburg..." list "Gun-makers' Materials" and other items for sale.
The March 11, 1869 issue of the "Ebensburg Alleghenian" contains a recurring advertisement of the Ebensburg Hardware & House Furnishing Store that offers "GUN LOCKS, MAIN SPRINGS, PIVOTS, &c." for sale. Ebensburg is about 21-1/2 road miles north of Somerset County, Pennsylvania.
J. H. Johnston’s advertisement in the 1867 "Pittsburgh and Allegheny County Almanac" offers "gun material" for sale, along with rifles, shot guns, and revolvers.
Click here to see a recurring Remington advertisement in the July 5, 1866 issue of "The Elk Advocate" newspaper of Ridgeway, Pennsylvania. Among other products, the advertisement lists "Rifle and Shot Gun barrels, and gun materials sold by gun dealers and the trade generally." Click here to see a Remington advertisement for many products including "Remingtons’ Celebrated Steel, Iron and Stubs Twisted Rifle and Shot Gun Barrels, and Gun Mountings" that was published in the November, 1875 issue of the "American Agriculturist". " Click here to see a Remington advertisement for many products including "gun mountings iron and steel rifle and shot barrels for custom gunsmiths" that was published in the March 14, 1877 issue of the Tionesta, Pennsylvania newspaper "The Forest Republican". Remington also advertised "Cast Steel, Stubs-twisted and Refined Iron Rifle and Shot Gun Barrels, Gun Mountings, &c." in the September 17, 1859 issue of the widely circulated "Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper." The aforementioned Great Western Gun Works catalog also lists Remington barrels for sale.
Page 121 of the 1960 book "The Pennsylvania-Kentucky Rifle" includes two gun lock sales pages from the 1886 catalog of the Brown & Hirth company, which was located at 520 and 522 Wood Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
F. G. Franciscus’s advertisement in the July 12, 1860 issue of the "Lewistown Gazette" suggests that he may have been a significant gun parts distributor. His advertisement includes steel, rifle barrels, single and double breeches, polished and engraved cocks (hammers), rough cocks, springs, German silver ornaments, double triggers, brass and iron ramrod caps, brass and iron sights, brass boxes, gun locks, thimbles, and gunmaker’s trimmings of all kinds. Lewistown, Pennsylvania is about 52 miles from Bedford County, Pennsylvania and about 125 road miles from Somerset, Pennsylvania. As shown by a a list of Huntingdon businesses in the 1873 "Atlas of Blair and Huntingdon counties, Pennsylvania", Franciscus eventually opened a hardware store in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania.
The 1883 book "The Gunsmiths Manual" states: "The various parts of gun mountings, such as guards, heel plates, etc., and the different parts of locks, such as hammers, tumblers, triggers, and plates, as received by the gunsmith from the manufacturer or dealer in such articles, are generally in the rough or partially finished condition." Some may think that trigger guards and heel plates should always be referred to as gun furniture, but this is a clear and authoritative example of them being referred to as gun mountings.
The article "The Muzzle-Loader for Accuracy" by Hervey Lovell in the November, 1917 issue of the "Forest and Stream" magazine includes the following derogatory statement, which references the common use of commercially manufactured gun parts: "Mr. CHAS. NEWTON'S opinion of muzzle loading rifles, expressed at different times in Forest and Stream and other outdoor magazines, has ruffled my hair the wrong way. ... I really think the Kentucky rifles of Mr. Newton’s boyhood days ... were poorly made cheap affairs ... The country smiths bought barrels from Eastern ironmongers for less than five dollars, including a cheap lock and tube. The brass furniture and set triggers cost a couple of more hard-earned dollars. By fitting the native birdseye maple stock to boughten parts, a complete rifle was formed — by a man usually following wagon-making or horse-shoeing as a trade. Can anyone imagine an accurate arm turned out by such methods?"
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was opened to Cumberland, Maryland on November 1, 1842. This facilitated shipping imported and domestically manufactured products of all kinds to Cumberland. From Cumberland, products were shipped by wagon to various stores in western Pennsylvania, including stores in the nearby counties of Somerset and Bedford.
The Pennsylvania Railroad connected the port city of Philadelphia to the industrial river city of Pittsburgh in 1852. This facilitated shipping products of all kinds between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
Regarding the Pittsburgh & Connellsville Railroad Company, the 1884 book "History of Bedford, Somerset and Fulton Counties" states, "...April 10, 1871, the track was finished between Pittsburgh and Cumberland..." This railroad passed through and served Somerset County, and facilitated shipping products of all kinds to and from Pittsburgh. To understand the meandering path of the Pittsburgh & Connellsville Railroad Company through Somerset County, see the 1860 Walker map of Somerset County, which is available on the website of the Library of Congress.
Click here to see an advertisement from the October 14, 1885 issue of the "Somerset Herald" newspaper that highlights the importance of railroads in the following statement: "The Pennsylvania Central and Baltimore & Ohio are daily carrying new hardware to J. B. Holderbaum's Hardware Store, No. 3 Baer’s Block, Somerset, Pa." The advertisement mentions a few examples of hardware, including "guns, powder, shot, wads, and caps".
