The Barlow family of Kentucky gunsmiths are well-known for their fine guns and superior mechanical abilities. But one Barlow gunsmith of merit has gone almost unnoticed with his work at times being attributed to other Barlow family members. He was Joshua Barlow of Bracken County, Kentucky.

Western explorer John C. Fremont’s 3rd trip to the Rockies in 1845 took him down the Ohio River, where he stopped at Louisville to purchase supplies. One of his purchases was eight rifles from Dickson & Gilmore, the town’s premier gunmakers. A same era rifle by Dickson & Gilmore helps historians and collectors understand Fremont’s rifles.

The most overlooked firearm Kentucky gunsmiths made was the under-hammer pistol. Despite being rare, under-hammers were made by a handful of Kentucky gunsmiths during the percussion era. The few surviving examples show an interesting pattern of changing styles based on how far from the Ohio River they were made.

Occasionally a carved horn comes along that, despite not being a “big money” horn, is too attractive to pass up. That was the case with the recent appearance of a New England horn with a well carved horn body completely covered with captivating New England folk-art.  

An early, unsigned Lexington School rifle sold at auction with an early style Lexington patchbox. Its large “Q” finial indicated a pre-War of 1812 rifle, and the side leaves lacked the usual two small “crowns” on their outer edges. It was the earliest known Lexington School rifle with an identifiable Lexington patchbox.

An old, worn half-stocked rifle sat in a Colorado gun shop for years gathering dust until discovered by the author. The rifle reminded him of a rifle he owned, and when compared, he was amazed at the similarities. His gun was a half-stocked rifle made by Jacob Rizer of Bardstown, Kentucky, about 1845, and the old, worn rifle undoubtedly had the same roots.

Recently a North Carolina rifle sold at auction with exceptional relief carving of unknown design and a unique patchbox with large bird-shaped finial. No signature was seen by the auction house due to heavy surface oxidation, but later examination of the rifle verified its patchbox lid was signed “S P” typical of other North Carolina signatures and identified to Catawba County gunsmith Samuel Peterson.

Recently a carved powder horn sold at auction that was a "Mercer County School" horn from Ohio, a school known for its affiliation with the state’s early Masons. But the auction horn was more sparsely decorated than most Mercer County horns and lacked many of the school’s standard figures. But what was there suggested it was the Mercer County carver’s personal horn.

A fascinating new relief carved rifle appears to be an exceptional North Carolina rifle, perhaps related to the Salem School, but shows several Kentucky details. The quality of carving and uniqueness of its patchbox suggest it will prove to be a highly significant rifle, perhaps unique and an important study piece.

Souther under-hammer pistols are rarely seen. Recently an exceptional example sold at auction with a rare “double-action” firing mechanism and even more rare belt hook. Despite no maker’s mark, it closely resembled a signed under-hammer pistol by gunsmith Andrew Jackson Jones of Augusta in Bracken County, Kentucky.

Michael Sells of Augusta in Bracken County, Kentucky, is one of the state’s best known Ohio River gunsmiths due to the significant number of his rifles that have survived along with historical documentation of his life and work.

A distinctive group of plain, low-cost rifles are known as secondary Lexington rifles. They are strongly related to the Lexington School in stock architecture but very plain and never signed. Many of these rifles are iron mounted and some made as “poor boy” rifles without a nose cap, rear ramrod pipe, or butt plate, yet all resemble Lexington rifles. Ongoing research into these rifles has helped identify who made them.

Balthasar Auer was Louisville’s premier maker of fine target rifles in the mid-1800s. He was trained in Switzerland and by 1859 was working in Louisville, Kentucky, His first guns were fine Schuetzen target rifles, but he learned to adapt to American preferences. In 1869 Auer moved down river to Owensboro in Daviess County, where his guns eventually lost their last Schuetzen details and became small caliber squirrel rifles.

Sketching original Tansel horns to document their artwork has been a passion of the author’s for over thirty years, with about 115 completed ink sketches. For horn collectors interested in the Tansel powder horn sketches, a recent horn’s sketching process was documented, and its steps toward completion are shown as the drawing slowly emerges.

The lives of a few noteworthy Kentucky gunsmiths are well documented, but no examples of their work exist to excite and educate collectors. John Maggard of Letcher County was one of those gunsmiths. Years of searching for a rifle by Maggard found only recollections about his work. Then in 2019 the needle in a haystack was finally found when an “unidentified” rifle sold in a small Colorado auction.

Hawken rifles of St. Louis were the preferred rifles of the western fur trade in the mid-1800s. Kentucky also contributed significantly to arming the western trade, despite its efforts being unrecognized by many historians. Louisville gunsmith Joseph Griffith made fine rifles, some of which looked and performed like the more famous Hawken rifles.

Three generations of the Asbill/Asbell family of Kentucky made rifles from 1806 until after 1900. Their work was well-made with good stock architecture but seldom decorated. Stock shape remained consistent across three generations of Asbill gunmakers, with later rifles appearing rather similar to earlier rifles and raising the question, can their guns be dated based on appearance?

The Barrens School covers about a dozen counties in south-central Kentucky along the Tennessee border. Recently a rifle by William Stephens of Butler County, Kentucky, bordering the Barrens School’s northern edge, sold at auction. The new rifle follows the pattern of Barrens School guns with its good quality but lack of decoration, thereby associating Butler County with the Barrens School of gunmaking.

Several of Kentucky better gunmakers were known well beyond Kentucky. Benjamin Mills of Harrodsburg was known for his target rifles, Jacob Rizer and David Weller of Bardstown for their decorated rifles, and the Settles of Barren and Green Counties for their hunting rifles. But Kentucky’s most widely known gunmaker was none of those. Instead, he was John Shell of Leslie County, a parttime gunsmith who late in life claimed to be the oldest living man in the world.

Under-hammer rifles from Kentucky were nonexistent… until a signed example recently sold at public auction. The gun was stamped on the barrel “G. A. Mayer” for gunsmith George A. Mayer of Henderson in Henderson County, Kentucky. No one had ever seen a Kentucky-made under-hammer rifle before, so the discovery was a major event for those who study and collect early Kentucky’ firearms.