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LOT 1217
Outstanding 1824 Dated U.S. Nathan Starr Model
1817 Flintlock “Common Rifle” - NSN, 54 cal., 36 1/8
inch round bbl., brown/casehardened finish, walnut
stock. The Model 1817 was dubbed the “common rifle” in correspondence to differentiate it from the
more unusual Hall breech loading rifles. At the time, rifles in military use in general were uncommon, but the U.S. Army had included riflemen since the American Revolution alongside the more common musket armed infantry.
The Model 1817 is a very robust design fairly similar to the standard U.S. muskets of the era at first glance but is a dedicated rifle design rather than a rifle-musket. The barrels have seven-groove rifling and finer rifle sights. All 38,200 of the Model 1817 rifles were produced by contractors. The Harpers Ferry Armory produced the patterns. Nathan Starr produced 10,200 of these rifles. Many of the Model 1817s remained in use during the Civil War. Their many years of service, including many being converted for use with percussion caps, has made this model particularly hard to find in high condition, original flintlock configuration. The rifle has a block mounted blade front sight, notch rear sight, “US/P/ JN” on the barrel at the breech, “W” on the left flat at the breech and tail of the left stock flat, “JN” cartouche on the left stock flat, “1824” on the tang, “U.S./N.STARR” on the lock below the removable brass pan, “1824/MIDNCON.” at the tail of the lock, “US” marked on the buttplate, and an oval patch box with a screwdriver, worm, and lead flint pad inside.
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CONDITION: Excellent, nearly as issued. 90% plus of the original brown finish remains. The lock retains 95% of the original case colors. The “armory bright” barrel bands and band springs remain mostly silver-gray. There are only a few minor scrapes
on the frizzen. The stock is also excellent and has smooth oiled finish, raised grain, distinct markings, minor hairline tension cracks at the rear lock screw and nose of the lock, and generally very minimal handling and storage marks. Mechanically excellent. This extraordinary rifle clearly remained away from the front lines and has been carefully maintained
for nearly 200 years. You will search a very long time before you’ll find another nearly as nice. It is certainly one of the absolute finest U.S. Model 1817 “Common Rifles” extant today.
Provenance: The Eric Vaule Collection; The Greg Lampe Collection.
Estimate: 14,000 - 22,500