Green River Rifle Works is often referred to as a semi-custom, semi-production builder. Examining GRRW rifles from the early days through their closure in late 1980, one sees a steady improvement in the quality and authenticity of their production guns. By the late 1970’s, even their production rifles exhibit a fit and finish that would rival some custom guns. When ordering a gun the customer always had a choice of caliber and barrel size, but they also had a choice, at extra cost, of custom features to the standard patterns such as fancy wood, flint ignition on any rifle, double set triggers on any single trigger rifle, brass entry pipe on Leman half stock, flat-to-wrist trigger guard on the Hawken rifles, Tennessee style cheekpiece, non-standard barrel dimensions, and other options.
Occasionally at the customer’s request, GRRW built what can only be described as a fully custom rifle. Presented here is one such rifle. First off, it is left handed. This is only the fourth left handed rifle I have seen and the sixth that I know of, though the GRRW record book indicates that quite a few were ordered and made. The subject rifle includes almost all of the custom options listed in their catalog for the Leman half stock rifle, plus some.
Some aspects of the rifle above are similar to the two original Leman half stocks shown below.
The special order brass entry pipe and pewter nose cap give the forearm a shape similar to a Hawken and is slimmer than the typical GRRW Leman Trade Rifle. The barrel is pinned to the stock with two pins in the forearm.
The nose cap is poured pewter and shaped nicely.
The rifle has a long wrist and straight comb like the originals—classic Lancaster features. The hardware consists of the GRRW proprietary Leman trigger guard and Leman butt plate that Phil “Bluejacket” Sanders developed while working at GRRW. The slim lines of the forearm continue on through the lock panels to the wrist. This is further enhanced by a higher comb rising above the wrist with more drop in the stock than commonly seen on the regular Leman Trade Rifles.
The extra fancy maple stock is highly figured with narrow tiger stripes along every inch. The stock appears to be stained with Aqua Fortis stain rather than the chromic acid stain often used on rifles they made at this time. It was finished with a hand rubbed oil finish, giving it the highly desirable satin look.
The standard GRRW Leman Trade Rifle normally had a beaver tail cheek rest, while the full stock Leman Indian Rifle had a square cheek piece. This rifle, even though a half stock, was built with the more traditional square cheek piece commonly seen on original Leman rifles.
There was some temptation to call this rifle a Leman-Hawken hybrid, but after viewing pictures of several original Leman half stock rifles like the two pictured above, the subject rifle is best described as a Leman Kentucky half stock rifle.
H. E. Leman was one of the most prolific rifle makers of the 19th Century and is one of the Big 4—Leman, J. Henry, Derringer, and Tryon[1]. A significant portion of his production went to government contracts for trade guns and trade rifles used as treaty annuities and trade items for the Indians. These rifles often went to Southern and Western tribes. His earliest trade rifles are thought to be long barreled, full stock Kentucky or Lancaster pattern long rifles in flint and percussion. During the robe trade period and later during the Plains Indian wars, the northern plains tribes particularly liked his shorter barreled full stocks with the 2-screw round cap box and fleur-de-lis finial. These are his most recognizable rifles, and the short full stock trade rifles that the GRRW Leman Indian Rifle is patterned after.
In addition to the Indian trade rifles, Leman produced a large quantity of Lancaster pattern rifles directed at white hunters and settlers. These ranged from very plain to very fancy with figured stocks and numerous engraved inlays in brass and silver in the fashion of the day. The caliber of these rifles also varied from small .36 to large .65 calibers, the latter often marketed as “Bear Rifles” and so marked on the barrels. The most common calibers[2] appear to be .54 to .58 for both Indian trade rifles and rifles sold to white customers. His Lancaster rifles were often full stocks, but a number of half stocks also exist today. The subject rifle fits this later group.
The one feature common on original Leman rifles but absent on this rifle is some form of a patch box or cap box. Interestingly, very few of GRRW Leman Trade Rifles or Leman Indian Rifles left the factory with either patch box or cap box.
To accommodate the double set triggers, the guard has a longer bow than the standard single trigger Leman guard. As mentioned before, this is the proprietary trigger guard developed by “Bluejacket” Sanders. The guards were cast for a single trigger. The bow was then stretched in a fixture to make room for the double triggers.
The double set triggers are mounted on a Kentucky style trigger bar. The shape of the triggers resembles Ron Long’s Hawken triggers. The lock is a left hand Ron Long Hawken lock. There are no markings on the lock, inside or out, indicating that the cast parts were acquired from Ron Long, and the lock assembled in the GRRW shop.
A few other specifics of the subject rifle: the length of pull is 14-1/4 inches and overall length is 52 inches. The rear sight appears to be cast steel, the same as Track of the Wolf’s #RS-PA-15. The front sight is a silver blade in an iron base. The barrel is 36 inches long and 1 inch across the flats, straight octagon. The rifling has 7 equal width grooves and lands. The barrel is stamped “GRRW” over “ROOSEVELT, UTAH” on the top flat in front of the rear sight. The serial number, makers mark (DM), and caliber (.58) are stamped on the left oblique flat above the drum and nipple. The DM makers mark is Don McKee’s.
The barrel and metal parts show no wear on the edges and only a few handling marks are seen on the stock. This rifle may be in unfired condition as there is no flash erosion on the barrel next to the nipple.
The letters “TR” are stamped along with some decorative engraving on the top flat behind the rear sight. The GRRW records show that this rifle was built for a muzzleloader gun store named Trappers Rendezvous owned by John Corn. At one time, Trappers Rendezvous had stores in Denver, CO, Salt Lake City, UT, Las Vegas, NV, and Rock Springs, WY. The condition of this rifle indicates that it was used for display purposes by one of the stores and not intended for resale.
The serial number is also stamped on the lower end of the underrib as commonly seen on GRRW half stock rifles. Note that some casting marks are still visible in the ramrod groove of the poured pewter nose cap. The underrib is steel and is fastened to the barrel with five (5) screws, one more than commonly seen on Leman Trade Rifles. The two upper thimbles are also steel and are soldered to the rib.
The lock bolt inlay is brass and has a weeping drop or point. The beauty of this particular piece of wood is easily seen in the offside lock panel.
The chatoyance and color of this fantastic piece of wood is best seen in these photos of the stock that were taken in direct sunlight.
The rifle is also embellished with a brass wire inlay in the shape of a weeping heart on the “Tennessee” style cheek rest.
Without a doubt, this is the most unique and fanciest GRRW rifle I have seen. The quality of craftsmanship, fit and finish, and component parts are exceptional. Definitely a one-of-a-kind, custom rifle from the Green River Rifle Works shop!
[1] See Museum of the Fur Trade Quarterly, Winter 1984; Museum of the Fur Trade Quarterly, Volume 7, 1971; James Gordon’s GREAT GUN MAKERS OF THE WEST; and FOR TRADE AND TREATY by Ryan R. Gale for more background on Leman and his guns as well as excellent examples of his many patterns and styles of firearms.
[2] Charles E. Hanson, Jr., THE PLAINS RIFLE, page 76
