Help to ID Old Rifle

[jkbrea]

A friend of mine bought a horse ranch in the Mojave Desert that belonged to Roy Rogers. Most of the belongings were auctioned of prior. Inside one of the guest houses were lots of framed pictures/posters and this old rifle that belonged to Roy Rogers. It appears to have the cocking mechanism missing(?). I took a couple quick pics but it had a nail securing it to the wall and I didn't want to mess with it. The auction company left it because they do not deal in firearms. I know the pics aren't that good but was wondering if anyone here may know what it is. The right side says"P.S. JUSTICE and underneath has "PHILAD A" It also has "TT" on the same side or it may be a "U" that is worn down. I didn't see anything on the barrel. Either way it's a cool wall hanger.

[Shasta]

Googled it:

http://armscollectors.com/mgs/justice_done!.htm


SHASTA

[MrMurphy]

Percussion musket or rifle-musket (you'd have to see down the bore to check for rifling).

It's missing the hammer, but the percussion "nipple" is still there.

No idea as to the exact model, as most look fairly similar, it could be anything from a 1858 or 1861 Springfield (Civil War era) or an earlier model from the Mexican war era. Can't even judge the bore size, but if you measure it with a ruler and it's "around" .58, it's probably a 1850-1860s piece as the US/CSA rifle muskets were .577 or .58, if it's a .69 or larger, it's pre-Civil War (though some saw use in the war anyways, as they were around).

[Sixgun]

What I'm amazed at is how can important items like a Civil War contract rifle and real deal pictures of good ole Roy are "left behind"? There must be lots of loot out that way.

Shasta did a good job on the research......do you know the monetary difference between 2,000 contract muskets from one company and 200,000 from another? Some serious bucks there......snag that baby.----6

[jkbrea]

What I'm amazed at is how can important items like a Civil War contract rifle and real deal pictures of good ole Roy are "left behind"? There must be lots of loot out that way.

Shasta did a good job on the research......do you know the monetary difference between 2,000 contract muskets from one company and 200,000 from another? Some serious bucks there......snag that baby.----6

I don't think my friends selling it. He bought the property and the rifle and several dozen framed pictures and posters were still there and he bought them. There was an auction some time back and some really nice stuff such as buckboard wagons, an old pianos and memorabilia went really cheap. There was a really cool framed Colt SAA poster featuring Roy Rogers and three other western stars from that Era in a box of photos. I'm going to try and talk him out of that.
I think a lot of stuff from his museum was moved to Branson, Missouri where his son lives.

[M. M. Wright]

Dusty ran the museum in Branson for several years, even had a music show with his own band but still went bust and had to auction everything including the stuffed Trigger and Buttermilk. We usually tried to go to the museum when we were there and it was a nice place to visit especially if you liked to look at Roy's guns.

[Malamute]

Interesting old rifle. Dixie Gun Works used to have original old parts for many guns. It may be worth contating them with pics and info and see if they have a hammer that would work.

I knew a guy that was interested in that place your friend bought (think its the same place, if its near Victorville), but couldnt get the deal to work out. That was a few years ago, a while after Roy died. He had known Roy.

[Booger Bill]

The original Museum was in apple valley and then it was moved to Victorville. Was to both of them. Even back then I was sort of disappointed thinking the guns weren't cleaned like they should have been. A guy that I worked with lived right by him and claimed to being good friends with him. I heard Roy gave him a Pony sired by trigger and that he kept him in his house! Heard that from another guy who was his neighbor and they rode to work together. Roy also had owned another little ranch house on a dirt road above Lake Hughs. A neat little ranch secluded on a mountain ridge.

[Ben_Rumson]

That lock was a flintlock originally and its been converted to caplock. Here's comparable example http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewIt ... =466981392
On both notice just below the bolster the change in color of the metal. That is where the F/L brass pan was ground down flush with the steel. Forward of that are filled in screw holes for the frizzen pivot and its spring. Notice too the hammer screws look the same. By the looks of it the lock was from a US Model of 1816... Most of the US 1816s were made and marked at Harpers Ferry arsenal, some at Springfield. However to fill out the complete Govt. order, contractors were utilized. Their markings vary alot.
The next new US model after the 1816, IIRCwas the model 1840 a caplock smoothbore. At the beginning of the Civil War many F/Ls were hurriedly converted to the more modern cap system because of short falls in arms production . Arms shortages led to some F/Ls actually being pressed into service which really PO'd the troops that got the issue to the point there was nearly a rebellion!