Foreword: Allen County, Kentucky, rifles have a distinctive stock architecture that separates them from almost all other rifles, whether from Kentucky or other states. A recent auction rifle was unsigned, but its stock architecture and distinctive cheekpiece strongly suggested it was from Allen County, Kentucky. A second new rifle mimics the work of the Heath gunsmiths in Scottsville and was made by Benjamin Williams, a known apprentice of William Heath in Allen County whose work had not been documented before.

Allen County Rifles: The most easily recognized and best-known rifles from Allen County were made by the Heath brothers, William and John, who grew up in northern Tennessee, were taught gunsmithing by their father Richard Heath, and after reaching adulthood moved north across the state line to work in Allen County, Kentucky. The author has never seen a rifle by the father, or by the two brothers who remained in Tennessee to work with their father; all signed rifles made in the “Allen County” style that the author has seen are signed by the Kentucky Heath brothers or one of their apprentices.

**Figure No.1:** This William Heath rifle from Scottsville in Allen County, Kentucky, highlights the major features of most Allen County rifles in its stock architecture, rear sight set behind the rear sight, and nose cap four or five inches past the rear ramrod pipe. Many, but not all, Allen County rifles have a slight “fish belly” that, when more closely examined, is really a slightly/softly stepped wrist. Private collection.

**Figure No.2:** The back of the William Heath rifle is perhaps the most important side of the rifle for identifying Heath and other rifles from Allen County in Kentucky. The cheekpiece appears unique for an American longrifle, with its heaviness that extends downward almost to the bottom of the butt. Also note the sharp drop at the comb’s nose, which is seen on many of the Heaths’ earlier rifles. Later rifles had a more generic comb.

All known Heath rifles from Kentucky are half-stocked with details consistent with those seen in Figures No.1 and No.2 above, as well as Figures No.3 and No.4 below. Their cast nose caps sit four to six inches past a conventional brass rear ramrod pipe, the rear sight is located several inches behind the rear pipe, and the butt often appears to have a slight “fish belly” in its lower toe line, which is actually a softly stepped wrist. More importantly, the cheekpiece is larger than normal, looks a bit chunky, and runs farther down the butt than most convention cheekpieces, going almost to the bottom of the butt. Its odd appearance is rare [perhaps unique] for mid-century percussion rifles made west of the Appalachians. When these details appear on a gun, it is almost always an Allen County, Kentucky, rifle. Other Allen County details include barrels signed with three large initials with dots at mid-height after each initial; the Heaths always included their middle initial, which was “M” for all three Heath gunsmiths working in Kentucky. A final distinctive detail on Heath rifles is the lack of a forestock barrel pin. Unless a Heath rifle was later modified [which happened to several known rifles] with a standard barrel wedge, Allen County Heath rifles do not have a forestock pin. Instead, a hidden pin is buried inside the cast nose cap, and an open-ended rear barrel lug/loop, or a small tab coming off the back of the iron under-rib, hooks over the hidden pin when the barrel is slid back into place. While perhaps done to prevent the loss of a removable barrel pin [or provide a “unique” detail to attract customers], Heath rifles have forestocks that feel a bit looser than the standard pinned forestocks. Some owners later modified their Heath rifles by installing a forestock pin/wedge in the normal position to lock the stock and barrel together more tightly.

**Figure No.3:** This John Heath rifle was made several years after the William Heath rifle in the first illustrations. Its nose cap sits four or five inches past the rear ramrod pipe, it has less pronounced stepped wrist, and the rear sight is located several inches behind the rear pipe in its original position. The gun has survived in fine condition with full, original length barrel and original finish. Note the tight side-facings around the lock that are indicative of a Kentucky gun. The lack of a forestock barrel pin is easily seen in this view. Author’s collection.

**Figure No.4:** The back of the John Heath rifle has no cheekpiece, due to being a few years later than the illustrated William Heath rifle. Heath rifles were well stocked and assembled, despite most being rather plain as this one is. Yet fine workmanship and interesting stock architecture make them attractive rifles from an area of southern Kentucky not well known for its early rifles. Author’s collection, photos by author.

Unknown Allen County Rifle: The fresh “Heath style” rifle is shown in Figures No.5 and No.6. It has a striking resemblance to rifles by Heath brothers William and John of Scottsville, both in stock architecture and the heavy, low cheekpiece that is a trademark of Allen County guns. Compare the rifle to the Heath rifles in Figures No.1 through No.4 above to see the strong similarities. One detail the gun seems to lack is a hidden forestock pin, with a standard forestock pin being visible. Actually, two forestock pins are present, perhaps one an actual pin and the other filling an old, vacated hole from a re-breeching. Based on ramrod pipe spacing, the author thinks the gun was re-breeched one time, losing about 2-1/2” to 3” of barrel, with graduated spacing used on its four original ramrod pipes. The gun has a longer, two-screw tang found on most Kentucky guns. While it cannot be said with certainty this rifle was made in Allen County, Kentucky, its many borrowed details strongly suggest that it was made there, probably not by a Heath gunsmith, but by someone who had worked in their shop, or worked nearby and copied their style to get a portion of the local business.

**Figure No.5:** This unsigned rifle exhibits many features of the Heaths’ work in Allen County, Kentucky. But it also differs in several small details. Note it has a straight lower butt line with no “step” in the wrist area, there are four pipes instead of the Heaths’ usual three pipes, and the gun is pinned in the forestock area. Private collection.

**Figure No.6:** The back of the unsigned attributed Allen County, Kentucky, rifle has the area’s “trademark” heavy cheekpiece that stretches almost to the bottom of the butt stock, along with a rather strong, or abrupt, nose on the comb. The cheekpiece is also more highlighted on the butt with its extended front and rear edges that run higher than on Heath rifles. But despite the small differences, the heavy cheek style is strongly in the Allen County style. Private collection.

From the above photos, it can be seen the new rifle is not identical to the William and John Heath rifles, but it has much in common with them in stock architecture, rear pipe arrangement, and particularly the heavy, low placed cheekpiece. Its guard style suggests it is a few years earlier than the Heath rifles, possibly making it a Tennessee Heath family rifle… although that is impossible to verify without a name or initials on the barrel to identify its maker.

Williams Rifle: A final new Allen County, Kentucky, rifle was made by William Heath’s apprentice and journeyman, Benjamin A. Williams. The 1860 census lists Benjamin as 24 years old, living in the William Heath household, with occupation of “Gunsmith.” Presumably he apprenticed under Heath in the 1853-1857 years, then worked in Heath’s shop as a journeyman until he married and moved away to open his own gun shop. Wiliams was working as a gunsmith at Bowling Green in Warren County, Kentucky, in 1885, but not much else is known about him. His rifle below is very much in the style of Allen County, Kentucky, rifles architecturally, and its three-initial signature imitates those of the Heath gunmakers. However, it is more heavily decorated in German silver than any known Heath rifle and was apparently made for a well-to-do mason who lived in/near Allen County.

**Figure No.9:** This Allen County, Kentucky, rifle by Benjamin Williams closely copies the work of William Heath, where he worked as a journeyman. Reportedly no one but Heath signed rifles from his shop, so Williams may have worked independently for a few years before leaving Scottsville for Warren County, Kentucky. Private collection.

**Figure No.10:** The back of the Benjamin Williams rifle has a typical “sagging” Heath style cheekpiece and softly stepped wrist. William’s heavy use of German silver is rare for Allen County, and was probably ordered by a wealthy local mason, based on the Masonic emblem in the back of the butt. This is the only Williams rifle the author has ever seen, or even heard about, suggesting he did more repair work than gun building. Private collection.

Summary: The Heath brothers were the most prolific and widely known gunsmiths working in Allen County, Kentucky, in the percussion era. They made half-stocked rifles with distinctive stock architecture, particularly with the nose cap relationship to the rear pipe, a large and low cheekpiece, and the rear sight positioned several inches behind the rear pipe. But other gunsmiths also worked in Allen County at that time, making similar looking rifles such as the study rifles in Figures No.5 through No.8, and Figures No.9 through No.12. All known Allen County rifles share the same basic stock architecture, nose cap arrangement, initialed barrels, and a large, distinctive cheekpiece that extends far down on the butt. Those details show the strong impact the Heath brothers had on gunmaking across Allen County.

Allen County, Kentucky, Rifles by Gunsmiths Whose Work was Unknown ©

Doctor James W. Dobson’s Tansel Horn from Owen County, Indiana ©