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LOT 3081
Remarkably High Condition, Kentucky Rifle Association and National Rifle Association Award Winning, Well-
Documented Engraved, Silver Inlaid, and Relief Carved George Schreyer Sr. Attributed Golden Age Flintlock
American Long Rifle - NSN, 45 cal., 42 5/8 inch octagon bbl., brown/casehardened/brass/silver finish, curly maple stock. The
American long rifle popularly known at the Kentucky rifle is one of the most iconic of all American firearms. Its “golden age”
following the American Revolution and into the early 19th century saw beautiful rifles built by an array of talented American
gunmakers. Among these, George Schreyer Sr. (1739-1819) is one of the most iconic. He was a gunsmith in Hanover in York
County, Pennsylvania, and produced beautiful rifles with exquisite carving as did his son George Schreyer Jr. Their last name has
also been seen spelled in various other ways including Schroyer and Shreier. This incredible smoothbore rifle from c. 1800 was
awarded a silver award for one of the best five guns at the Kentucky Rifle Association’s meeting in 1970 and a silver medal for
being one of the ten best arms display at the National Firearms Association’s Annual Meeting in 2007 in St. Louis. The silver KRA
award plaque and cased NRA medal, display plaque, and certificate are included.
The rifle is pictured and discussed on pages 80 and 81 as gun no. 18 in “George Schreyer, Sr & Jr, Gunmakers of Hanover, York
County, Pennsylvania” by George Shumway who noted: “This unsigned rifle can readily be attributed to George Schreyer, Sr.,
on the basis of the patchbox and its engraving, the architecture of the stock, and the design and execution of the carved
decoration on the stock. The piece is in a particularly good state of preservation. There is an engraved silver inlay on the cheek-
piece, and an oval silver inlay on top of the wrist. The carved decoration does not include Schreyer’s usual fleur-de-lis in either
of its usual places. The scroll carving behind the barrel tang is the small surprise that this gun holds.” The silver oval inlay on the
cheekpiece is engraved with a man in the center of a star, a design similar to the inlay on rifles no. 11, 20, and 22 of the book
which are signed “G Schreyer.” The same figure also appears on the roundel of the patchbox finial on rifle no. 10. Greg Lampe
theorized that the man represents George Washington as his likeness was popular in the period. 77