The "Friendship Tree" Rifle

Southern Mountain: North Carolina Piedmont, Davidson School, as might be found from the Yadkin River Valley. This rifle was built for NMLRA Board Member Keith Bayha. This rifle was primarily built to compete in NMLRA squirrel rifle matches. All parts were purchased at an NMLRA match in Friendship, Indiana by the client. This rifle features a 7/8 x 36” .40 cal barrel, single set trigger, a Golcher style percussion lock, all iron furniture, and most notably, the stock is cut from a plank of wood that was once a walnut tree growing on the NMLRA range at Friendship.

As the builder, my primary challenge was to fashion a historically accurate piece given the constraints of the parts that were provided by the consigner. I could do whatever I wished with the wood within the limits of the several Southern Mountain rifle styles. After conducting some basic research I decided that the North Carolina rifle would fit the wishes of the consigner as well as the parts provided. I ended up purchasing John Bivins, Jr.’s book ‘Longrifles of North Carolina’ (1968, George Shumway, publisher) since I did not already have any complete references for this style. Much of the basic style of the rifle I built lends its roots to rifle #11 by ‘P.C.’ on page 80-81.

Another challenge laid in the fact that the wood was not kiln dried, and very much ‘alive’. Despite the fact that the wood had been kept flat and dry for over 5 years, the six foot beam was twisted over an inch from one end to the other. Luckily there was over 3.5 inches of thickness to work with. After I cut the beam down to about four feet, it was planed down to about 2.75 inches, plenty of width to work with. I took the stock down in stages, being careful to let the stock sit for at least two weeks after removing a substantial amount of wood. One of the driest summers on record in Fairbanks meant rather serious shrinkage, which made fitting parts challenging, forcing me to take more metal off the width of the butt plate and nose cap. Moisture problems continued throughout construction, especially as fall approached and the increased moisture began swelling the wood instead.