19th Century half stock rifle with percussion conversion, lock plate engraved with "T. Davidson & Co." and a vignette of a dog with two birds. Double set triggers, 34" octagonal rifled barrel; brass patch box, trigger guard, buttplate, and forestock. Stock with deer, dog, star, and diamond German silver inlays. .45 cal. Overall 48 1/2" L; bbl 34" L. Tyler Davidson Co. was a producer of hardware between 1834 and 1866, including providing lock mechanisms for guns.

Note: Walter Matson Cline (1873-1941) was a Chattanooga, TN, photographer and preeminent historian and collector of muzzle loading firearms. His book "the Muzzle-Loading Rifle Then and Now" became the authority on the history of black powder firearms when it was published in 1942, shortly after his death. The National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association, of which Cline was an early member, is headquartered in Friendship, IN, and is home to the Walter Cline shooting range. As this is an antique black powder firearm, no FFL is necessary.

PROVENANCE: By descent from the estate of Walter M. Cline, Chattanooga, Tennessee.

CONDITION: Functional, triggers hold, clean bore. Stock shows cracks at wrist and forend; hardware and inlay sits slightly above stock; ramrod missing, interior of patchbox with oxidation, some pitting to metal parts.