Example of a Lehigh Valley rifle in the stype of Peter Neihart.  This rifle has a 42 inch Colerain octagon to round rifled barrel in 50 caliber.  It uses a Chambers Dale Johnson lock, a single trigger and Reaves Goehring cast brass mounts.  The sugar maple stock is stained with ferric nitrate with LMF maple stain over top, I used amber shellac and my own varnish mulled with madder lake pigment (more about that below).

This is a very slim and light rifle.  The octagon to round barrel takes the muzzle heaviness to a minimum.  Those who insist on having a muzzle heavy gun so you can hold steady ought to look at another piece.  The price of this piece is $2800. Sold

The incised carving is modeled after an existing Neihart rifle, particularly the cheek piece.

Notes on finishing this rifle.  After staining was complete and the stock rubbed back some, I cut amber shellac 2 to 1 part alcohol and applied a coat at a time, rubbing back each coat with gray scotch brite pads.  I applied three coats of the shellac basically to fill the pores in the wood.  I then mixed one part spar varnish, 1 part aged turpentine and one part cold pressed linseed oil to which I mulled the madder lake pigment using a glass plate and a glass pestle I found in an antiques store.  I applied three coats of varnish being careful to avoid any build up around carving and moldings.  I could probably have put more on and built up some in places that would have typically seen little wear for an antiqued effect but chose to stop before I got to the point of over doing it.  It like the effect.