A true American firearm: the Kentucky Long Rifle

kronckew · 3rd April 2011, 08:58 PM

i love these rifles. had a .36 calibre percussion lock repro kaintuck i shot while i lived in the states.(also had a .58 springfield rifled musket that ate a lot more powder & lead per shot)

while the main discussion here is the 'kentucky' variant, i myself prefer the pennsylvania. my understanding was the ones with the straight topped butt stock were 'kentucky' and the more roman nosed (rounded top) ones were 'pennsylvania'. the half stock (straight topped stocks again) hawken/plains rifles in .50-.68 were the magnums of the day. probably what ol' crockett was looking for on his way to history at the alamo.

flintlocks were fairly easily converted to percussion locks to extend their usefull life, tho using percussion caps ties you to civilization, it's a lot easier to find flint in the boonies than a reliable source of caps. even gunpowder could be made from dung, charcoal if you could find sulphur. percussion caps require a more industrial society.

3rd April 2011, 08:58 PM	#39
kronckew Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Room 101, Glos. UK Posts: 4,215	i love these rifles. had a .36 calibre percussion lock repro kaintuck i shot while i lived in the states.(also had a .58 springfield rifled musket that ate a lot more powder & lead per shot) while the main discussion here is the 'kentucky' variant, i myself prefer the pennsylvania. my understanding was the ones with the straight topped butt stock were 'kentucky' and the more roman nosed (rounded top) ones were 'pennsylvania'. the half stock (straight topped stocks again) hawken/plains rifles in .50-.68 were the magnums of the day. probably what ol' crockett was looking for on his way to history at the alamo. flintlocks were fairly easily converted to percussion locks to extend their usefull life, tho using percussion caps ties you to civilization, it's a lot easier to find flint in the boonies than a reliable source of caps. even gunpowder could be made from dung, charcoal if you could find sulphur. percussion caps require a more industrial society. Last edited by kronckew; 3rd April 2011 at 09:12 PM.