1864 Henry

Lot 276: Henry Rifle

S/N 6500, honest frontier Henry Rifle, 24” barrel. Matching numbers on barrel, tang, butt plate and stock; top tang broken during period of use and ingeniously repaired with a steel wedge, no heat applied, old crack and repair in wrist, probably caused by the same fall that damaged tang, very well-made large buckhorn rear sight, 1864. CONDITION:  Bore has black powder oxidation, heaviest at the muzzle, good rifling; barrel and magazine have scattered pin prick pitting, iron surfaces are dark brown to silver, brass is untouched mustard color, various use dings, wood fits to butt plate but not receiver, either top or bottom tang is out of alignment due to accident that caused the break, missing magazine spring, some screws replaced.  

Brian Lebel's High Noon Auction, January 23, 2016
Sold $10,925

Frontier Photographer

422: L.A. Huffman (1854-1931)

"Roundup Outfit on Move 4:30 a.m."
Hand tinted original collotype photograph
7" x 18 1/2"
Signed lower right in white "photo * (c) L A Huffman Miles City, Mont.", titled in white lower left.
Framed to: 14 1/4" x 25 1/4"
Slight foxing evident throughout the image, but still bright with no fading.

Brian Lebel's High Noon Auction - January 23, 2016
Sold $1,888

A Frontier Firearm

Lot 287: John J. Wurfflein Rifle

NVSN, .50 caliber, 35” barrel measures 1 1/8 inch from flat to flat, Plains Rifle by John Wurfflein, Philadelphia. Half stock, double keyed, small oval patch box, German silver furniture, double set triggers, barrel and back action lock marked “J. Wurfflein, Philada”. Heavy ram rod rib with 2 iron ferrules, patent breech; total length 54”, total weight 13.4 pounds, circa 1840s. With the rifle is a note stating, “J. Wurfflein, Philada, John J. Wurfflein, Brought across the plains in 1850 by John Zumwahl Willows, Calif.” CONDITION: The bore is remarkably bright, 6 wide flat lands and groves, iron is chocolate brown thinning to silver, stock is thick wristed and has a very neat and very old repair of a sliver of wood along the fore arm; barrel sight has been moved back 5 inches, German silver furniture are an aged dusty silver color, greased patches still in patch box, mechanically excellent, overall a great rifle.

Brian Lebel's High Noon Auction - January 23, 2015
Sold $2,300

Frontier Firearms
The size of all things in the West (distances, animals, etc) demanded a new firearm. The Hawken bothers are the best known makers of what became the “Plains Rifle”, the “Mountain Rifle” and sometimes the “Buffalo Rifle”. They were so instrumental in the development that the genre was soon dubbed “the Hawken Rifle”. But there were many gunsmiths outfitting the trapper/trader of the era. Wurfflein, Slaughter, Gemmer, Dimmick, Deringer, and J. Henry all contributed to the legend and are no less desirable.