A Tough Learning Experience: Buying a Rifle From Photos
Foreword: All collectors make a purchase they regret occasionally, but with experience the mistakes dimmish. But even seasoned collectors can get too excited and overlook details before pulling their wallet out. The author had one of those moments recently, when his excitement got the best of him on a carved gun. His purchase is a reminder to be vigilant and go slow when buying a rifle that excites you, particularly when damage is visible.
Figure No.1: When buying this Pennsylvania rifle, the author had two full-length pictures to base his decision on. He could see wire ties holding the stock and barrel together, but he could not see the missing barrel wedges, inlays, and stock breaks. He “presumed” the gun was relatively sound and complete, so purchased it from the photos. Barrel: 41 inches long [lost 2 inches at breech], .42 caliber bore, 7-groove rifling. Author’s collection.
Figure No.2: The photo of the back of the Pennsylvania riffle had the same hard-to-see damage as the front side, made harder to see by the distraction of attractive incise carving around the cheekpiece. The author got excited when he saw a carved gun show up in Indiana and purchased it based on the two full-length photos. When he got the rifle in-hand later in the day, he was surprised by how much damage he had overlooked.
Old Photographs: The author was at a local gun show when a dealer he knew introduced him to an older gentleman who wanted to sell his family rifle. The seller had photographs of the gun, and it looked like a good PA rifle with a nice patchbox, carved butt, and "L. Snider" signature on the barrel as seen in Figures No.1 and No.2 above. The author could see forestock damage and missing inlays in the photos, but he was told all the inlays were in an envelope that went with the rifle, and the gun had its original "T. Ketland" flintlock plate that was later percussed. His excitement grew, and he began to think the gun might “get away” if he failed to act, so he got the seller’s information and purchased the rifle from the photos at a "reasonable" price. Later that afternoon the man returned with the gun, and since the author had been waiting impatiently for a while, it went straight into the car.
Figure No.3: Despite damage elsewhere, the butt’s patchbox is above average with seven piercings and moderate engraving. Also visible is an interesting carved detail at the wrist just beyond the patchbox’s finial.
Figure No.4: The back of the butt has lost its large crescent moon inlay, but more importantly, it has attractive incise carving behind and in front of the cheekpiece. The wood surface and color are original.
Extent of Damage: When the gun got home and was examined, its patchbox and butt carving in Figures No.3 and No.4 looked good, but the forestock had more damage than the pictures revealed, including missing inlays and barrel wedges. The guard was broken, but both pieces were there. When new, the gun had been a better rifle than the author first thought, with fine tang inlays and forestock molding terminations at the rear pipe seen in Figures No.5 and No.6, and side-facings around the lock with “tear drop” rear ends in Figure No.7. The original “T. Ketland & Co.” lock plate and full two-bolt side-plate in Figure No.8 added interest to the flint era rifle. But many silver inlays were missing along with multiple wood slivers along the forestock, there were stock breaks at the wedge location, and the barrel had been shortened about two inches at the breech. When the envelop of “old” inlays was emptied, one original barrel wedge tumbled out, but all the inlays were modern brass forestock inlays of simpler shape; none of the missing coin silver inlays had survived.
Figure No.5: The tang area is beautifully decorated with three [now two] brass inlays, all well-shaped and engraved. Their presence suggests the missing forestock inlays were probably also well-engraved.
Figure No.6: The forestock is missing multiple slivers of wood on both sides, but still has nice detailing in areas including the rear ramrod pipe. One of several missing forestock inlays and wedges is visible here.
Figure No.7: The Snider rifle has well-developed side-facings with relief carved “tear drops” at the rear and a similar relieved panel at the front. Note the broken guard; its missing front piece came with the gun.
Figure No.8: A typical two-bolt eastern Pennsylvania side plate decorates the rear side-facing of the Snider rifle. Small, coin silver inlays are located on each side of the wrist.
Not That Bad: The author was upset at the damage and losses to the rifle he had previously overlooked, but like many collectors, after a while he began to rationalize the purchase to reduce frustrations. Despite the damage and lost inlays, the wrist was intact and the gun had an attractive patchbox and good butt carving seen in prior Figures No.3 and No4. In addition, the gun was clearly signed “L. Snider” in script as seen in Figure No.9, and it had an engraved toe plate seen in Figure No.10.
Figure No.9: The gunmaker signed the rifle’s barrel with “L. Snider” and has been identified by the descendants of the original owner as Leonard Snider of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania.
Figure No.10: The rifle’s toe plate is damaged, but its engraved borders and central details can still be seen. Just to the right and not seen in this picture are a vent pick hole and several small silver inlays along the toe.
Rifle History: The elderly seller and his sister were joint owners of the rifle. The seller said their ancestors were from Pennsylvania and carried the gun to Ohio in the mid-1800s. No one in their family knew much more about the rifle, and no one wanted it. When asked, he did not know how the gun’s forestock got damaged, some of which looked like more recent damage. He said about forty years ago a family member took it to the Log Cabin Shop in Ohio to see if it could be repaired. The gun still had an old Log Cabin business card with it, with the handwritten name of an Ohio man who worked on old guns at that time, but apparently nothing was done, and there was no mention of the work needed. The owner said the gun was made by Leonard Snider of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, in the early 1800s, and one of its earliest owner's surnames was “Elbel.” But nothing was documented, just family memories. The only Leonard Snider gunsmith the author could find was a Pennsylvania gun barrel maker. A similar patchbox in Roy Chandler's original "Patchbox Book" had the barrel signature "J. Snider" [John Snider].
Summary: The moral of this story is to slow down when you feel yourself getting excited about a gun you really want, and do not let first impressions blur your critical thinking. Take a breath, calm down a bit, then more critically examine the gun for all its good points and bad points, so an honest understanding of the gun’s condition and quality is formed. And finally, do not buy an interesting looking gun from just a couple photos taken at a distance. Rather, get the seller’s commitment to sell you the gun, but keep the wallet in the pocket until you get more complete pictures or even better, have the gun in-hand to examine and really understand what you are buying.
Author’s Footnote: While disappointed in the purchase for overlooking some of the damage, the author will probably not get hurt moneywise. What bothered him most was losing the opportunity to make money on a carved gun, due to more extensive restoration than anticipated. But the rifle will move on to someone who can do the restoration work himself, and the author should reclaim most of what he paid for it… so in the end, it was more a hit to his pride than his wallet.