Iron and Silver Longrifle
Shown here is an iron mounted rifle based on several rifles made by Alfred Gross of East Tennessee. At one end of the spectrum is that famous silver mounted (silver over iron) rifle by Alfred Gross, and on the other end are completely plain iron mounted rifles. This rifle is in the middle with thirteen sterling silver inlays. The mounts are pretty much the same on all the iron mounted rifles made by Alfred Gross, particularly the trigger guard. I worked very hard to match the Alfred Gross trigger guard on this rifle. I am pretty sure that I made three or four guards before I got to the one I used.
I never really know how to finish an iron mounted rifle. We only know what they look like now, at about 200 years old. We only have vague clues about what they looked like new. Consequently, I really have to age iron mounted rifles to some extent to look something like what they look like today. On this rifle, I went almost to that point and then scrubbed off the black glaze so that you could still see the outstanding figure.
Like most of the southern iron mounted rifles, this one is very heavy at 11 lbs, 5 ozs. This barrel is based on the one on the over the top silver mounted rifle by Alfred Gross and is actually larger at the muzzle than at the breech. The muzzle is a little over 1″. At 47″ long in 45 caliber, it is a heavy barrel which makes for a heavy rifle. The rifle was almost certainly built for target shooting from a rest.
The length of pull is approximately 14″ to the front trigger. The drop is a little more than 3″ and the cast off is about .25″.
This is the last rifle for a customer. From now on, the gun projects are for me.
The Technical Details
| Stock: | Very curly, stump cut, quartersawn, Red Maple |
| Lock: | L&R Late English |
| Barrel: | Custom Ed Rayl barrel; 47″, 45 caliber |
| Trigger: | Davis double set triggers |
| Mounts: | Hand forged mild steel butt piece and trigger guard with other mounts made from steel sheet |
The Final Result
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In-Process Photos
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