Ardesa percussion gun in Kentucky style, calibre .45, black powder replica, Spain, 1992
Long gun in Kentucky style, calibre .45. Octagonal, blued barrel without rifling, inscribed “Ardesa Spain - .45 Ca” and “Black Powder Only”, serial number 216581, Spanish proof marks with bore size “11.4”, gas pressure marking “700 Kp/cm²” and year code “L2” of the Eibar proof house for 1992. Percussion side lock, lock plate and hammer colour case-hardened with light scroll engraving. Two-piece full stock to the muzzle. Brass mounts: butt plate with long spur, trigger guard, fore-end cap, ramrod pipe and screw escutcheons. Open sights, ramrod present. Very well-kept condition, mechanism works, bluing largely intact, no missing parts discernible. Please inspect. L. 124 cm.
The Kentucky rifle, also Pennsylvania rifle or American long rifle, was developed by gunsmiths in Pennsylvania from the early 18th century out of the Jäger rifle brought over by German immigrants; the oldest pieces come from Lancaster County, from where the design spread westward across the counties of Pennsylvania. Characteristics are the long barrel, the slender stock and the brass furniture with curved butt plate; as every gunsmith cultivated his own form, there was no uniform model, and the name Kentucky rifle became a collective term for these muzzle-loaders. The Spanish manufacturer Ardesa makes replicas of historical muzzle-loaders with flintlock or percussion lock, among them the Kentucky rifle in calibre .45 with octagonal barrel, which are marketed in the United States under the name Traditions. Muzzle-loader exempt from licensing under German law, also as a replica, sale to persons aged 18 and over only.