Flintlock Swivel-Breech Longrifle

David Boyer

ca. 1830–40 · Steel, wood (curly maple, hickory), brass, silver · Arms and Armor

Based on his surviving work, Boyer seems to have specialized in swivel breech over-and-under rifles, like this example. A swivel breech mechanism has two barrels, placed one above the other, which are rotated manually, or swiveled, after each shot. The architecture of this rifle, especially the downward curving "Roman-nose" form of the buttstock, the style of the patch box, and other details of the decoration, relate closely to rifles made by members the Angstadt family in neighboring Berks County, suggesting that Boyer may have trained in their workshop, or another in that area, probably in the 1820s. Although Boyer’s known rifles are firmly rooted in the style of the early nineteenth century, he had a long career and is still recorded as a gunsmith in the federal census of 1870.

Artist

David Boyer

Date

ca. 1830–40

Medium

Steel, wood (curly maple, hickory), brass, silver

Culture

American, Orwigsburg, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania

Department

Arms and Armor

Credit line

Gift of Marion Eppley, 1956