[Gerardo Garcia]

Hi y'all. This is my first post, I came across this website when I was trying to identify this gun on my own, by I had no such luck. I've attached a couple of pictures, but this is an old rifle with "1835 Amberg" written on it. Any idea what this is?


https://imgur.com/a/of7Wm

[Mark Moore]

I'm no expert on antique firearms (or modern, for that matter), but judging by those adjustable sights, I would say that is the 1835 equivalent of a sniper rifle....or a really cool big-game gun. And probably high-dollar in it's day....and even more so nowadays. .....McM

[Lin Robinson]

There was an arsenal in Amberg, Germany in the 19th and 20th centuries and probably earlier. The rifle appears to me to be a Jaeger style rifle which may have been produced in Amberg. It is also possible that it is made from parts from an older Amberg-made firearm. It is difficult to tell from the limited views supplied.

Jaeger rifles were carried by German troops in the American Revolution and later. They usually had full stocks rather than half stocks like this one, octagonal barrels, set triggers and fancy trigger guards. The barrels were generally short, less than 30 inches and there was a patch box on the right side of the butt stock. Of course, while these guns were produced based on a pattern, they were handmade so there are some variations in dimensions and construction. Early Jaegers were, of course, flintlocks and this is a percussion gun. My suspicion is that parts were used to assemble the gun for sporting purposes, i.e. it was never a military rifle. I also think the lock was originally flint and converted to percussion.

That is about all I can say about it, absent more detailed photos.

[Dave Black]

I can't add much to whats already been said. The ladder sights suggest that its almost certainly a rifle rather than a smoothbore. From the cheek rest on the stock I'd guess that its either a high end sporting rifle or a target rifle. If its relatively small calibre then I'd guess at a target rifle.

Generally there isn't much you can say about these types of muzzle loading percussion cap firearms as there isn't a lot to differentiate them. They were produced for a long period of time, pretty much until the late 19th/early 20th century and ended up all around the world. The one in your photo's just seems to be an upmarket specimen.

[Gerardo Garcia]

Wow, thank you so much everyone for the high quality responses. So far, you've given me a lot of information. I had no idea about this gun's history; unfortunately, the person I received it from passed away, so I can't ask them anything.

I've attached all the pictures that I have of the gun here:

https://imgur.com/a/nx7ON


Thank you so much, I have a few more that I'll be posting in the coming weeks that are other antique firearms that would be interesting to know the history about.

[Lin Robinson]

The additional photos seem to support my theory. I think it was originally equipped with a flintlock from a military rifle converted to percussion although the date on the lock plate is within the percussion era, so who can be sure about that.

Please do post your photos of other antique guns. I like blades but guns are also very interesting.

[Sean Flynt]

I'm a target airgun guy rather than a target firearms guy, so that's my bias. My first impression is of a purpose-built sporting target "Schützen" rifle. The quality of the stock, set trigger, trigger guard and rear sight just seem designed for precision shooting. However, three things I don't see that would seal the deal for me are an aperture sight on the wrist or tang, some kind of decoration and a more concave butt plate. That suggests to me that it's a good, plain hunting rifle.

[Scott Moore]

Gerardo,are there provisions for a ramrod?It's hard to determine from the photos whether there are rod pipes attached to the bottom of the barrel,or if there is a hole drilled in the forearm of the stock to accept a ramrod.
If none of these are present my bet would be for a target rifle- a muzzle loader without an attached ramrod would be pretty impractical for hunting, as I can attest from practical experience.
If a ramrod is provided for,and the gun not excessively heavy,(say above12 or so pounds),I'd say you have a hunting rifle which is/was ,depending on condition, accurate enough for entertaining target work.

Scott

[Lin Robinson]

[Gerardo Garcia]

[Ralph Grinly]

I'm not sure about the firearms industry in the German states at this time; ( If I recall correctly..Germany, as a nation, didn't exist at this time..it was just a loose confederation of various small dutchies and states ) but I'd have expected a relatively high-end rifle like this to have proof marks on the barrel somewhere ? If you can find them, and post a good, clear picture..it might help folks to narrow down it's origon ? Are you sure that's a 56 on top of the barrel..it's roughly around the area one would normally expect to find proof marks ?

[Daniel Staberg]

In 1835 Amberg was a part of the Kingdom of Bavaria and home to the "Königlich Bayerische Gewehrfabrik" that is the Royal Bavarian Rifle Factory if the names is translated directly into English. Set up in 1801 the factory would become one of the major sources of arms for the Bavarian army which according to Wikipedia took over management of the factory in 1820.

The Bavarian army used two diffrent models of "Jägerstutzen" (Jäger Rifles) in the first half of 19th Century, the M/1807 and the M/1829 both of which were converted from flintlock to precussion lock from 1841 onward resulting in the Jägerstutzen M/1807/41 & M/1829/41

My best guess is that the rifle in the photos is either a jägerstuzen that had a lot of extra work done on it to convert it after the Bavarian army got rid of the rifle due to it being obsolete. Or it is a "Frankenstein" rifle built at a later date using unrelated bits and pieces which just happen to include a Amberg precussion lock or at least the plate from such a lock.

[Lin Robinson]