This Kentucky long gun is sighted like a standard American long rifle but is equipped with a smoothbore barrel. Reportedly, these guns perform very well at longer ranges with round ball or buck and ball and are also very capable fowling pieces. Such a gun would have been very useful to a farmer in the early years of our republic who would have depended on such a gun for hunting various game and fowl, defending his family, and for sport. The barrel has a wedding band transition at the transition point, and is signed "N. * Beyer *" on top behind the rear sight. Educated estimates place Nicholas Beyer (1780-1850+) as active primarily in the early 19th century around Lebanon. The style of his work is more inline with the early post-Revolution era and some, including this example, show clear signs of Pennsylvania Dutch influence. He is recognized as one of the most talented and prolific Golden Age long rifle makers. This example has several attributes that match other well known Beyer rifles. For example, note the distinctive pelican-esque bird on the patch box finial and the overall patch box design which are nearly identical matches to the Beyer rifle on page 235 of "Thoughts on the Kentucky Rifle in Its Golden Age." The star shaped silver inlay on the cheekpiece, silver thumb plate, and the side plate are also nearly exact copies. Several of Beyer's rifles are known to have incorporated hearts into their design; this example is no exception as it has a brass heart inlaid between the toe plate finial and the tail of the trigger guard. The raised relief rococo carving on this "smooth rifle" is more detailed than the example pictured in the book that Joe Kindig, Jr. said has "exceptionally high and fine" carving. The lock is unmarked but has the bevelled line at the tail found on many of Beyer's rifles and has a roller on the frizzen spring and an integral flash pan. The gun as a whole is slender and light. The Pennsylvania Dutch style bird on the patch box is particularly attractive and is a style only seen on Beyer's rifles. It clearly bears a resemblance to a pelican. Pelicans were thought to be particularly attentive to their young and mothers were portrayed as wounding their own breasts and feeding their blood to their young, and other myths went so far as to suggest that a mother pelican killed her young in a time of famine and then resurrected them with her own blood before dying herself. Not surprisingly then, a pelican vulning itself became a symbol self sacrifice, dedication, and of Jesus Christ and the Eucharist.

Good as cleaned and reconverted to flintlock. The barrel is an even gray patina with light pitting along its length and moderate flash pitting at the breech. The lock is slightly darker and also has light pitting. The brass and silver have attractive even aged patina throughout. The stock is also good and has some slight smoothing of the carving, a few small cracks and repairs, minor chips and scratches, evenly re-oiled surfaces, and highly attractive stripe figure along its length. The lock functions very well, and the engraving and signature are distinct. This is a fine example of master craftsman Nicholas Beyer's work complete with his distinctive bird patch box finial, signature, and part octagon smoothbore barrel.