tsi1990

Hey everybody, I'm new to black powder hunting. I come from a background of hog hunting with pistols and some bowhunting. I came across the rifle at my mother-in-law's house and knew it was a Whitworth, most likely a reproduction. It has barrel markings that appear to say "RRMOORE" and something like, "CORTLAND" under it and "No 1172" to the right of it. Has anyone seen one of these before or have any information on it? I don't plan on using it, but I'd love to know some history on it. I've looked through all information I can find (internet and otherwise) and can't find anything on this particular rifle. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

bronko22000

nifty looking rifle tsi. I think you have an original rifle, not a repro. I can't find anything on the net either. But it is pretty obvious the it was made by an R. R. Moore from Cortland, NY.
The stock looks like it is in pretty good condition. A bit of pitting on the metal it looks like. What cal. is it and is it flint or percussion?

Pittsburghunter

Hi TSI I don't know a ton about origional rifles but I am afraid you have one. A picture that also shows the whole rifle will help identify it.

I will direct you to a site called Muzzleloadingforum.com and have you sign up and ask in a coulpe of the forums if anyone know what you have. A warning though although we can talk about any m/l here you can only talk about traditional guns there. I still visit the site quite a bit though nice people for the most part with a few well I would not consider camp company.

I did not notice a date on the rifle or do I know whether or not it is a flinter I would sugest using the flint or percussion forums which ever applies or even the building bench those guys know a ton about the real deals they build replicas.

I look forward to finding out what it is I will look for your thread on the forums. If anyone knows what it is it's these guys.

tsi1990

I'm not sure if it's percussion or flint, or the caliber. I just happened across the rifle. I've put more photos at http://www.victorbrant.com/whitworth for anyone who's interested. I can go take more photos tomorrow if need be. Again, thanks for your help!

Pittsburghunter

Trust me if you want to know what it is visit the forum I posted. They are real good at identifying old rifles.

Pittsburghunter

Wow a rear action .32. Go to the percussion forum and post the pics for Liver Eating Johnson. He has built guns like that. That gun looks shootable and may be homemade.

tsi1990

Thank you. I posted on the forum you mentioned. So, you believe it's a .32 rear action? What does that mean in terms of its age and origin? Any idea? Thanks again!

Edit: If you'd like to follow the other thread, it is at http://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB16&Number=16275 7&Searchpage=1&Main=162757&Words=& topic=1&Search=true#Post162757

Pittsburghunter

If it is a real origional it is worth money. Hell I think it is still worth money whether it is an origional or not. What a great looking rifle.

Underclocked

Did I miss something in the pics? How did you determine .32 cal? Looks as if you could well be right, but just wanted to know how you knew??

False muzzle and appears to have the true Whitworth octagonal rifling system. That would put it sometime after ~1860 or so, but it could have been built much more recently. I would guess about 1885...

Whitworth bore with a percussion action that looks more like a Tryon. Given the false muzzle, I would think it was intended more as a target rifle than a hunting gun. Have you measure that barrel across the flats? Rifle's weight?

http://www.eldreds.lotfind.com/catal...&ord=1&row=501 has a listing for a combo rifle/shotgun by the same maker. Perhaps someone at that aution house could help you with valuation.

tsi1990

I'm not sure what you mean by measuring across the flats. How is that done? I will weight it as soon as I can, however. Thanks!