Arms, Armor and Militaria

.41" caliber. 41.5" barrel length. SN: NSN. Browned metal finish with brass triggerguard and brass buttplate, as well as German silver stock fittings and embellishments to curly Maple stock. Single-shot percussion fullstock rifle with fixed rear notch and German Silver front blade sights. Lockplate is signed JOSH GOLCHER in Serif text within double line border engraving with floral scrollwork to forward and rear ends of lockplate. Escutcheon to wrist engraved with the initials J.G.B. with teardrop shaped German Silver embellishments to both sides of the wrist, eight S-shaped plates the barrel with the counterpane and lockplate buttressed by crescent shaped decorative plates tacked in place. Barrel is engraved with the J{star}S initials of Jacob Snider, who primarily used commercially made locks and was noted for the extensive embellishment applied to his creations. Cheek rest to left stock mounts a punch-dot and engraved escutcheon depicting the {Bald Eagle clutching arrows and shield} in primitive style above triple plates, and an arrow shaped plate along the left edge of the toe. All features mentioned are common to pieces produced by Jacob Snider. Brass serpentine is lightly engraved sigmoid with similar motif to brass patchbox. Replaced ramrod.

Jacob Snider was the brother of gunsmith Tobias Snider, and a known Bedford County, Pennsylvania gunsmith active between 1842 and 1875. Born on October 6, 1821, Jacob Snider entered into an apprenticeship with gunsmith George Fay in 1842, following his elder brother Tobias into the trade. Jacob and Tobias continued in the gun trade in Bedford until 1860, when Jacob moved to Colorado to make his fortune investing in banks and silver mining in the region of Georgetown, Colorado. These ventures eventually made Jacob a very rich man, with his estimated wealth numbering in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Yet his interests were not without challenges. As was common in the period, Snider's land claims were contested by his neighbor, Bishop, with both men attempting to settle their claims in court. Snider won the case, but the aftermath ended tragically. On May 20, 1875, after a verbal altercation with Bishop that soon involved a crowd, Snider mounted his horse and attempted to flee for home only to be ambushed and murdered by while dismounting. Tobias Snider collected his brother's body, and brought him back to Bedford County, Pennsylvania to be buried with his family. His grave still stands in St. Luke's Cemetery, resting beside his brother.