Question about Pedersoli Frontier

[shane37110]

What timeframe and general area is it closest to? I know it is more of a generic type longrifle but, I like it and wondered where and when it would loosely fit.

[mongrel]

It comes closest to a roughly 1830's mountain rifle. Not mountain as in Rockies, but mountain as in Appalachian (did I spell that correctly?). It doesn't really fit one of the "schools" of building that existed through the early part of the 19th century, but once you hit the late 1820's, definitely the 1830's, you start seeing a more generic form to rifles, especially those produced in areas distant from the original riflemaking centers in eastern Pennsylvania and Maryland, Virginia, the Carolinas, and other locales near the eastern seaboard. By the time gunmaking was a going concern in the mountain regions, function and utility took precedence over adhering to any "school's" particular pattern. You see a leaner, stripped-down shooting iron that worked and was pretty in its own way, but definitely as a result of form following function.

And there will be those, maybe not here, who will insist the Frontier (which is a carbon copy of the Hatfield Squirrel Rifle and Cabela's Blue Ridge) is correct to no time or place, but once again it bears pointing out that from the time period I defined above there were plenty of gunsmiths in plenty of places who followed no particular pattern, rhyme, or reason, and built rifles that really fit nowhere and for that reason (in my opinion) fit everywhere. But the Pedersoli is definitely an 1830's or later piece.

And for what it's worth, I agree, it's a pretty thing.

[shane37110]

What would you think PC for 1790's to 1803 or so scout/surveyor in Middle Tennessee, I have all the documentation of both my great grandfathers way back coming over from back east in that time frame, Just don't know what kind of guns they would have probably had. One was a scout/surveyor with Robertson and Donelson, the other came over 1803 and started a gristmill but hunted to feed the family. Both were in county militia.

Ok my dates were off, My ancestor, William Neely was with Robertson in 1779 at Ft. Nashboro, I think a trip to the state museum will be in order for some fact finding....

[old salt]

I would say the most common would have been a smooth bore more than likely
a military stile for the common man. A man of means would likely have carried a Kentucky still rifle

[mongrel]

What would you think PC for 1790's to 1803 or so scout/surveyor in Middle Tennessee, I have all the documentation of both my great grandfathers way back coming over from back east in that time frame, Just don't know what kind of guns they would have probably had. One was a scout/surveyor with Robertson and Donelson, the other came over 1803 and started a gristmill but hunted to feed the family. Both were in county militia.

Ok my dates were off, My ancestor, William Neely was with Robertson in 1779 at Ft. Nashboro, I think a trip to the state museum will be in order for some fact finding....

The rifle is unfortunately of much too late a style to work in an 18th or very early 19th century setting.

At either of the time periods you specify, nothing like the Tennessee/southern mountain rifles had yet evolved, so if a man were carrying a rifle it would be of eastern styling. It could just as easily be a roman-nosed profile like the Pennsylvania Allentowns, Readings, Berks, and other styles -- or a straight-butted pattern as was typical of locales as diverse as Lancaster County or York in Pennsylvania, or the various schools of Virginia and either North or South Carolina. "Typically" (meaning most often but not without exceptions) a gun of any of these regions would have a buttplate of roughly 1 3/4" to 2" width, anywhere from about 4 1/2" to slightly over 5" in height, with a corresponding mass to the buttstock. The molding of the forend, found on the Frontier rifle, is completely unlike that of rifles of the origin we're talking about here, and even as late as 1803 there wasn't much in the way of rifle production actually happening on-site in regions like Tennessee and Kentucky. At that point folks were most usually from somewhere else and so were their weapons.

I'm not trying to discourage you so far as your choice of a firearm. There are a lot of events and settings where no one is really going to care beyond the fact that you're carrying a flintlock longrifle. However, you asked about specifics and if you find yourself at an event where they take the details even fairly seriously -- the Frontier isn't a suitable rifle.

And just to make myself very, very plain so far as correctness and all that -- you're fairly new here and may not be familiar with my point of view on matters of historical correctness. I have a hardcore knowledge of the subject but I don't have the hardcore enthusiasm for making sure everyone is a picture-perfect example of the period they're interested in. There are some events that will expect a high level of accuracy -- many, probably most, don't. How you proceed will be up to you and what you find personally comfortable and satisfying. The only purpose to the advise I offered, above, is to allow you to be aware of what actually would be historically correct, and for you to take it from there.

[shane37110]

Mongrel you are giving me exactly what I was looking for. I used to do Civil War but have gotten interested in earlier history as a result of some geneology I'm doing and finding out that I have some realy cool, well documented ancestors. I already have two of the Frontier rifles I got in a deal I couldn't refuse before this current interest. I could easily portray a later ancestor of the 1830s with this rifle or trade it, so it's not a big deal there. I just wanted to know where this rifle would fit and what I need to accurately portray the older ancestors.
Thanks!