Kentucky Rifle.
An art form, and a signifigant event in the early history of the Unites States.
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My example is a .32 caliber rifle, with 42" barrel. It was built sometime back in the 70's. No specific detail on who built this, but the barrel is marked O Bannon, or something close to that. This one shoots very nicely. Prime the tray correctly, just a dash, keep the flint nice and sharp, and ignition is almost instantaneous. Overprime it, and you get the click-whoosh-bang that flintlocks are so often accused of doing every time. Like all flintlocks, it can be tempermental. High humidity will keep the primer powder from igniting, and a dull flint can give you slow or no ignition. There are days I think this rifle is just in a crabby mood. And there are days when it never fails.
I am particularly fond of this example. It is very much in the Kentucky/Tennessee style, with the very slender stock and deep, curved buttplate. Personally, I find this more attractive than the heavier, squared off stocks of the Pennsylvania makers.
Pardon the fuzzy photo, this was one difficult rifle to photograph, due to it's extreme length. With my trusty Olympus D-600 zoomed all the way out, I still had to stand on a chair to fit this one in.
Loading and firing.
Loading is fairly simple. The hardest part is finding a .32 cal bullet starter, nost gun stores don't stock .32 cal stuff. You can start a patched .315 round ball with the ramrod if you're careful. 30 grains of FF seem to be the optimal load. There are many fields of thought on what to lubricate the bullet with. I use spit, because it's hard to run out. Prime the tray with enough powder to fill it maybe 1/3 the way. Any more, and it'll slow fire on you. And swab the barrel out afterward.
Firing is a pleasure. Double set trigger, which tunes up to barely touching the front trigger. With a proper prime in the tray, and a clean touch hole, it fires with almost no perceptable delay. Overprime it, and it's click, sssssst, pow! The deep curve in the butt plate is surprisingly comfortable, and the stock stays put once you shoulder it. The long barrel seems quite awkward at first, until you take this rifle into a dense hardwood forest, where it was designed to be used. Then, it makes perfect sense: there's always a tree nearby to lean a hand on, and rest the barrel on your hand. A good example of a problem going away when you use the device within it's design parameters, and this rifle was designed to be used in dense forests.
Detail of butt and lock. Nice brass wire inlay.
Brief History of the Kentucky Rifle
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