One of the best things we saw during our visit to the History Museum of Western Virginia in Roanoke on Saturday was a musket rifle made by John Painter.
John Painter is my great-great-great grandfather on my mother's side. He was a gunsmith of some renown here in our area.
The rifle was huge. It was about five feet long. I don't know how men carried those things and shot with any accuracy.
I have seen one or two of his guns before but they are rare finds. This one was on loan from the Blue Ridge Institute at Ferrum College. I know of a couple in private hands but all told, this is a very rare thing to see.
Rarer still for it be a musket made by my ancestor.
It was behind glass, so the pictures aren't very good.
How exciting is that! A rifle as tall as me!
ReplyDeleteThat is quite a firearm and what a history! How incredible for you to have this piece of history.
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