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Page 34 March 2017 The Catoctin Banner Newspaper www.TheCatoctinBanner.com Published by www.EPlusPromotes.com
Armstrong Made the Rolls
Royce of Rifles
by James Rada, Jr.
When sixteen-year-old Nathaniel Courtesy Photo and Armstrong bought the barrels.
Rowe first came to Emmitsburg in However, they also made some.
1837, it was a small town with a lot The rifle is a John Armstrong rifle. Armstrong was a noted Emmitsburg gunmith in the early 1800s, and
of log homes. his rifles are sought-after collector’s items. “The first barrels were made by
welding two bars of iron around
“They were warmed with big website says Armstrong “is generally a style early in his career, in the late a solid core. Later, old horseshoe
open fire-places and wood stoves. considered to be one of the very best 18th century, that pleased him and nails were made into gun barrels.
We knew nothing about coal. of the era. His pieces often draw pleased his customers; he did not Some of the barrels we bought
We lived well and comfortably, comparisons to Swiss watches and change that basic design with the in Lancaster, Pa., and some were
however. Locks on the doors were Rolls Royce automobiles—classics passage of time,” Sullivan wrote. made around here. We bored out
unknown—we had no thieves. There that defy time.” the barrels ourselves testing the
were no butchers nor bakers. We Armstrong was a perfectionist accuracy of the work by squinting
eat pork more than any other kind He is believed to have been born who crafted all of the parts for his through the bore at a bright light;
of meat. Once in a while a farmer in Liberty Township, Pennsylvania rifles, even though it took more time. any inequality would cast a shadow
would kill a calf and divide it up on September 5, 1772, according on the opposite side of the barrel,”
amongst the neighbors, each taking to Albert Manley Sullivan in “Most gunsmiths of that period he told the Chronicle.
his turn at butchering. We wore Emmitsburg: History and Society. bought their locks from lock
homespun clothing. Everybody had Details are scant on where Rowe manufacturers. They were cheaper Rowe was Armstrong’s last
his own patch of flax,” Rowe said in learned his trade, but it is believed and increased production. This apprentice. Armstrong is known to
a 1908 interview in the Emmitsburg that he was apprenticed to George saved the gunsmith money in two have been working up to at least
Chronicle. Schroyer in Hanover. Sullivan said ways,” Sullivan wrote. 1841. At that time, he would have
that the similar features in both been 63 years old.
Rowe didn’t come to Emmitsburg Schroyer’s and Armstrong’s rifles The result of making them himself
for the quality of life, though. He lead to this conclusion. was worth it. Sullivan described Armstrong and his wife had
came to learn at the hands of a the locks as “slender, graceful and seven children: William, Robert,
master. Although most of Armstrong’s beautifully proportioned. They Samuel, James, Ann, Elizabeth, and
rifles are from the 1800s, a few blend perfectly into the architectural Jane. Robert and Samuel tried to
John Armstrong was a gunsmith have been dated to the 1700s, balance of the gun.” follow in their father’s footsteps but
who had started crafting a variation which means that he arrived in didn’t have the talent that he did.
of the Kentucky Long Rifle in town Emmitsburg probably around 1793. Like any artist, Armstrong Armstrong’s legacy was passed on
by 1808, which is when he purchased signed his locks. An Armstrong rifle through his apprentices like Rowe
property in town to set up his “The point is that John developed without a signed lock is not worth and George Piper.
business. He taught a generation of nearly as much. Rowe said that he
gunsmiths, so much so that he and Sullivan estimated that based on
his apprentices were known as the the time it took Armstrong to make
“Emmitsburg School of Gunsmiths.” a rifle that he probably made around
The Rock Island Auction Company four hundred in his career. Less than
30 are known to exist.
a d s @ t h e c a t o c t i n b a n n e r. c o m w w w. t h e c a t o c t i n b a n n e r. c o m
Armstrong Made the Rolls
Royce of Rifles
by James Rada, Jr.
When sixteen-year-old Nathaniel Courtesy Photo and Armstrong bought the barrels.
Rowe first came to Emmitsburg in However, they also made some.
1837, it was a small town with a lot The rifle is a John Armstrong rifle. Armstrong was a noted Emmitsburg gunmith in the early 1800s, and
of log homes. his rifles are sought-after collector’s items. “The first barrels were made by
welding two bars of iron around
“They were warmed with big website says Armstrong “is generally a style early in his career, in the late a solid core. Later, old horseshoe
open fire-places and wood stoves. considered to be one of the very best 18th century, that pleased him and nails were made into gun barrels.
We knew nothing about coal. of the era. His pieces often draw pleased his customers; he did not Some of the barrels we bought
We lived well and comfortably, comparisons to Swiss watches and change that basic design with the in Lancaster, Pa., and some were
however. Locks on the doors were Rolls Royce automobiles—classics passage of time,” Sullivan wrote. made around here. We bored out
unknown—we had no thieves. There that defy time.” the barrels ourselves testing the
were no butchers nor bakers. We Armstrong was a perfectionist accuracy of the work by squinting
eat pork more than any other kind He is believed to have been born who crafted all of the parts for his through the bore at a bright light;
of meat. Once in a while a farmer in Liberty Township, Pennsylvania rifles, even though it took more time. any inequality would cast a shadow
would kill a calf and divide it up on September 5, 1772, according on the opposite side of the barrel,”
amongst the neighbors, each taking to Albert Manley Sullivan in “Most gunsmiths of that period he told the Chronicle.
his turn at butchering. We wore Emmitsburg: History and Society. bought their locks from lock
homespun clothing. Everybody had Details are scant on where Rowe manufacturers. They were cheaper Rowe was Armstrong’s last
his own patch of flax,” Rowe said in learned his trade, but it is believed and increased production. This apprentice. Armstrong is known to
a 1908 interview in the Emmitsburg that he was apprenticed to George saved the gunsmith money in two have been working up to at least
Chronicle. Schroyer in Hanover. Sullivan said ways,” Sullivan wrote. 1841. At that time, he would have
that the similar features in both been 63 years old.
Rowe didn’t come to Emmitsburg Schroyer’s and Armstrong’s rifles The result of making them himself
for the quality of life, though. He lead to this conclusion. was worth it. Sullivan described Armstrong and his wife had
came to learn at the hands of a the locks as “slender, graceful and seven children: William, Robert,
master. Although most of Armstrong’s beautifully proportioned. They Samuel, James, Ann, Elizabeth, and
rifles are from the 1800s, a few blend perfectly into the architectural Jane. Robert and Samuel tried to
John Armstrong was a gunsmith have been dated to the 1700s, balance of the gun.” follow in their father’s footsteps but
who had started crafting a variation which means that he arrived in didn’t have the talent that he did.
of the Kentucky Long Rifle in town Emmitsburg probably around 1793. Like any artist, Armstrong Armstrong’s legacy was passed on
by 1808, which is when he purchased signed his locks. An Armstrong rifle through his apprentices like Rowe
property in town to set up his “The point is that John developed without a signed lock is not worth and George Piper.
business. He taught a generation of nearly as much. Rowe said that he
gunsmiths, so much so that he and Sullivan estimated that based on
his apprentices were known as the the time it took Armstrong to make
“Emmitsburg School of Gunsmiths.” a rifle that he probably made around
The Rock Island Auction Company four hundred in his career. Less than
30 are known to exist.
a d s @ t h e c a t o c t i n b a n n e r. c o m w w w. t h e c a t o c t i n b a n n e r. c o m
