I emailed the Fur Ttrader Museum but so far haven't had any reply. I will look up the J Henry artificers site, and no, we haven't touched it. Too many people have strongly suggested we not take it apart. If you remember why it seems familiar, please let me know, and if I find out anything, I'll post it on the forum. Regards, Joanne
I purchased an A. W. Spies octagon barrel percussion shotgun last week in Texas. The lock is marked "A. W. Spies", he was a prominent firearms dealer/agent in New England in the mid 1800's. He was not a gun builder or maker. I paid $215 for the piece which is a fair price. It is complete with great patina-only a wall-hanger because of the steel. Just making the post in case people think he was a gunsmith. I hope this helps. Blue Skies.
If you’re looking at the last few posts, what we have is a member who is going to the next step and trying to identify their firearm to the actual maker. A well-known antique firearms dealer suggested that the particular AW Spies firearm she owned resembled a J Henry firearm and she is investigating that lead.
Hopefully she can find someone that specializes in early Pennsylvanian rifles, who can tell by the layout of rifle, brass work and other traits of the rifle and who can tell if it matches J henry's work during that period.