View Single Post
Old August 20, 2011, 02:49 PM   #6
James K
Member In Memoriam
 
Join Date: March 17, 1999
Posts: 24,383
I have never seen a Merrimack Ballard, but one should be stamped that way.

I feel that you are trying to read a bit too much into that rifle, trying to fit in into some category that it probably never was in. Consider that it might just have been a war surplus rifle "sporterized" by a gunsmith to make it a more usable hunting rifle.

St. Louis was the "Gateway to the West" and as those pioneers drove under the Gateway Arch , they often bought rifles they would need as they passed through "injun country". A number of gunsmiths flourished in St. Louis in those days; some built rifles, others sold new and surplus arms and modified the surplus guns to what they thought was needed. At a remove of 143 years, we can't know exactly and probably never will.

Jim
James K is offline  
 
Page generated in 0.02496 seconds with 8 queries