This guy was not a mountain man. And the rifle at best is not typical. I think he is more likely a wannabe rather that the real thing. At best he is a guy that went to California to look for gold, heard some stories and made up a persona. Maybe he did hunt Gbears in CA. But this is +- 20 years after the beaver trapping real mountain men moved on to other things. This rifle. In the form shown in the period photos is most likely and “over the chunk” type match rifle from Kentucky or Tennessee. Why its had parts added sometime and the 1870s or whenever we will never know. Unless someone WAS using it as a chunk rifle later. Many old guns were modified in the 1920s-1950s to make them worth more. As pictured its a classic “poor boy” or “barn gun” except the caliber is FAR to large and I suspect its been bored smooth for use as a shotgun at some time in its life since rifles of this caliber are rare in the extreme in the US of any period. Especially with a swamped barrel. Chances are he found this rifle in Illinois or there abouts and used it as a studio prop.

Or it's a grease hole

.68 cal? Gawd that had some punch. And probably a good reach in its day. No wonder he was knocking down griz.

Probably has a "coned" muzzle for faster, easier loading. True bore diameter is probably 58. The barrel may have beern " freshed out" once or twice in its lifetime. It may have started out a ,50. Then bored to 54 then finally to 58. They didnt give up on guns back then.

Northern Woodsman I feel that way holding a 1923 penny

They don't talk, but have a hell of a Bark.

@@jfc1432 thanks :)

With all thats going on YOU'RE worried about an antique ram rod that isn't even yours, i'd bet a great many things bother you in life....i couldn't imagine, were did it go wrong Jeffery ?.....Never mind.

Yeah, they wear gloves, but bend the ramrod??? Ya suppose Ol' Seth only touched his rifle with gloves on? Ha!

@Shang Hunter. Hell yes that's what he is worried about and I was worried about the ramrod too. How about be a little nicer with your responses in the future. Re,ember, we're all here because we share a similar interest and on the same team.

@@boweavil1063 jm

My first thought at 39 seconds

Isn't it funny how no1 ever says anything about the mutual racism of the old days...most indians hated whites & blacks just the same. And blacks & whites were terrified by the demonic barbarism of many native tribes, so killing an insanely wicked, mutilating murderer of men/women & children was a good thing for all around. Even the fair-minded, normal tribes wanted peace from the crazy tribes...which led to many young Indian men scouting for whites. Your ancestor was a normal human being in his era...and he likely did the region a favor with his weapons.

what kind you do you have? i have a cva mountian rifle in 50 caliber.

The hole in the stock is 'Poor boy' style instead of a patchbox. Kept wax or grease there for lubing patches.

Not a Hawken, it is a eastern style mtn. Rifle.

Exactly. How did they manage not to say anything about it's most important ballistic features(aside from those ghastly sights). That don't look like a gun that's killed scores of grizzlies either unless grizzlies are a lot easier to kill than I gave them credit for. Not buying this one.

it was more or less a kentucky rifle probably .45 caliber.

@@steelgila I agree find it hard to believe he killed a grizzly bear with that gun.

@@steelgila step on over some time partner. got a pretty good copy made by cva 40 yrs ago. slow twist patched ball. VERY POWERFULL with 80 grains black powder.

I quest you have no idea who he was than..

@@rickeyryan303 well only what the "stories" say

honestly, a private collector who can afford this piece would be able to take better care of it than any museum, think of all the stress that is put on a piece in a museum, allways someone who wants to touch it, the harsh lights that shine on it day in and day out, give it 10-20 years and it will end up in worse state than it already is, or worse, be put on a shelf in a forgotten section of a museums storage closet, never to be appreciated for who knows how long.

Ever heard of a "curator"? 😂

AcolyteOF Fire Have you seen how they house Davy Crockett rifles in Tennessee or the Alamo? Nobody can touch it or nobody even asks to touch it, it's behind glass and people aren't that stupid. ?

What museums do you go to where you can touch things like this?

Warren Okuma noooooooo gun Jesus

Ian is knowledgeable and well spoken. I had some trouble understanding the first speaker, but could not understand the second at all. This video did not have cc.

I'm 5th gen Californian, 4 of those generations in Humboldt County, where Kinman hunted most of his elk and griz. The County is bigger than the State of Rhode Island, but even today only has the population of a small suburb. The terrain is steep and rugged, and because of the wet coastal conditions is choked with undergrowth everywhere but under the densest redwood canopies. I can't remember the link right now, but online is a diary from one of my ancestors from the 1870's , part of which describes the efforts of my family to help a lesser prepared family survive the winter. Kinman was indeed a savy marketeer and showman, but he was ABSOLUTELY a Mountain Man.

had to get powder in town also.

@@williamdaniels6943 percussion caps were just one more thing that could go wrong. Which is why at least early on, flint was the way to go. A true mountain man of the mountain man era didn't have a town to go to. He went to Rendezvous or if he were in the southern Rockies Taos or Santa Fe.

@@jamesharville1489 He wasn't a Mountain Man in the accepted sense of the term. He wasn't Jim Bridger, Kit Carson, Jedediah Smith, Hugh Glass or dozens of other actual mountain men. He was a frontiersman and many other things, but not a Mountain Man. He didn't even get to California until 1849, the mountain man era was already over. And the term Mountain Man is associated with the Rocky Mountains not the California coastal ranges.

@@williamdaniels6943 Native Americans got gun powder somewhere without going to town. Could have been from traders however the ingredients are charcoal, sulfur, and ammonia nitrite you can get from manure or your own urine. The recipe was extremely common knowledge. While I believe most people purchased Black powder my data is some people made their own. While modern publishers would shy away from telling how to make black powder in my youth it was not so. Reenactor types had their favorite recipes. In one case the maker claimed he liked to use his urine to wet the cake when mixing it. Make it into a cake. Let it dry and then break it up. That is called corning. He then sifted it for size. He said using the urine seemed to add a little extra punch. Making black powder is not rocket science but it can be extremely dangerous. Some powder mills actually had the boards on the walls loosely attached so a blast could easily push them off allowing the building to decompress more easily thus saving the frame and maybe some of the people inside. When Black powder burns it needs some resistance to push against while the pressure builds up which explains why the Boston bombers put the stuff inside a pressure cooker rather than just wrapping it up in wrapping paper. For some reason I seem to be able to recalling a staggering amount of information that is of no earthly use to me whatsoever.

Yes, that's why period front sight blades were most often made of brass. When I shot black powder competition, I always shined my front sight before matches, and wiped it frequently. Same as modern fiber optic sights.

The front sight is supposed to be elephant ivory based upon the description from when it sold back in 2010.

@@TupeloOrdnanceWorks , Thanks for that info. I wonder when that was done, as I don't think it's original

Any relation to Jim Anderson from Eureka?

Well, you sure do have a LOT of kin in the comment section then.

Great!

Probably not...they're all moving here!

god save us from foreigners comrade ... but no one in their right mind would ever want to enter to the satanic abomination of the united states of catamite arseholes

u mean Putin aka IVAN

Yeah! That's our fucking shit! 'Murica.

@@brucedeane8 Then why do we have an illegal immigration problem where hundreds of thousands of people from all over the globe pour in to our country every single year?? Literally every country on Earth loses citizens to the United States every single day.

NO WAY TO KNOW. PART OF THE MYSTERY OF IT.

omg....it's all through the comment section and links provided, read, search, click and you'll find your answers.

IN THOSE SHOOTING A RIFLE LIKE THAT WAS AN INDIVIDUAL SKILL AND MOST WERE ALTERED SOME TO FIT THERE OWNER.

It is elephant ivory and would have been one of the "innovations". Information comes from the Bohnam Auction of the rifle back in 2010.

Many thanks for the information.

www.rockislandauction.com/detail/75/111/seth-kinman-mountain-man-rifle

THANKS

wel lthey said its been repaired to the point where the gun is almost a completely different firearm compared to it's original configuration.

@@acolyteoffire4077 Iv'e still got the same axe my Great Great Grandfather had when he was a boy... It's only had 8 new handles and 3 new heads....!!

Did u watch and listen to the video???

Josh Rogan lol!

That is called the patch box, it was eliminated when the rifle was converted from a flintlock to a percussion. Most likely around 1832 or shortly after.

@@shanghunter7697 It was a grease hole. One of the earliest and simplest ways of greasing the cloth patch that would hold the round ball as it was seated on the powder charge. I do not believe that there was ever a top on it at all.

To hold Grizzer Bear grease to lube the linen patches that surround the ball, gripping it and marrying the two to the rifling grooves and also acting as an obturator.