OPEN- 0001 - Early, M1816/22 .69 barrel, Fowling Piece- 1817-1838

[smithy]

New project is enroute. Any help identifying would be greatly appreciated.
J. Doe #0001

Has an obvious "LS" stamp on the barrel.

This is all we have to go on until we receive her next week:

[adavis]

That is awesome!!! The proof mark "LS" typically refers to Leslie Robertson & Co., a Scottish gun manufacturer and proof house. Leslie Robertson & Co. was known for proofing firearms, which involves testing them to ensure they are safe to use. The "LS" mark stands for "Leslie, Scotland," indicating that the firearm was proofed in Leslie, Fife, Scotland. This mark can be found on various firearms that were proofed there, indicating they met the required safety standards.

Best guess for now! Keep us posted when it arrives.

[smithy]

Yeah.. it's looks in rough shape and we're planning to give it a good reconditioning. I recall seeing a M1816 flintlock that was proofed with a LS mark but it's been a long time. We're looking forward to this one.

I will read up on Leslie Robertson too. Thanks!

[smithy]

This barrel has me stumped. I scoped it and it seems to have an inconsistent pattern of ring grooves. I assume this may remnants of riflling and/or carbon rings. The LS inspector marks also seem to have been embellished with copper/brass or it's possible that trace is result of the recondition process.

[smithy]

The barrel cleaned up nicely. It's a .69 caliber smooth bore and is 38.5" long. I'm planning to do more research on the ring grooves internal to the barrel before honing.

[smithy]

The stock cleaned up nicely but it's missing a bunch of chunks. Looks like we're in for some creative surgeries.

[jcastaway]

This barrel has me stumped. I scoped it and it seems to have a consistent pattern of ring type grooves. The LS marks also seem to have been embellished with copper or similar. Does that look familiar to anyone?
Thanks

I'm starting to think that "LS" stamp may be Luther Sage and your initial assumptions are valid. I'm surprised the inspector marks would be on the same scale as "US".
Check this out: https://www.proofhouse.com/cm/us_inspector.htm

[smithy]

I think you may be right. It looks like we have a date range at least for the barrel (1817-1838). Updating thread subnet. I have so far been unable to tie to any back action locks. Thanks!

SAGE, Luther—U. S. Inspector of Contract Arms, 1817-1838. Inspected arms in plants R. & J. D. Johnson, Simeon North, Lemuel Pomeroy, Nathan Starr, Asa Waters and Eli Whitney.

[smithy]

I cleaned up the lock a bit, but the engraving is fairly worn from time and use. We found no indication of additional maker, proofing or inspection marks yet.

[smithy]

So, you may want to close your eyes for these next parts.

This is my first recondition project that I'm posting and I'm certain there will be a good chunk of folks all pissed off because "it's worth more" sitting wasting away in a box as a bunch of parts but with more original patina. I respect everyone's position but for me passing a firearm down in one piece and being able to share the ability to interact with it is priceless. This firearm now has way more potential to outlive that box of parts and tell a great story at the same time.

The pore thing was missing so many chunks. I'm debating next steps if it's to better mask the fiberglass or just own her flaws.