Original 19th Century German Jäger Percussion Rifle Signed J. Lehnert a Czarnikau with Octagonal Barrel & Double Set Trigger - circa 1850

Original item: Only One Available. Here we have a most impressive full-stocked German Jäger Percussion Rifle, possibly imported into the U.S. before the civil war. These were made by the many skilled gunmakers in Germany, which at the type was made up of multiple different Kingdoms, Provinces, Duchies, and so forth. Many of these that we see are unmarked, intended for a retailer to mark them, however this example has a clear maker name on the top of the barrel:

J. Lehnert a. Czarnikau.

Lehnert is a known Germanic surname, and we have seen a few references to this maker. Czarnikau was a region / county of the Prussian province of Posen, at the far north, and today is part of Poland. Definitely some great research potential with this lovely hunting rifle. It features a 28 3/4 inch long octagonal barrel, which has a bore of about 0.56" and has deep 8 groove rifling, with an overall length of 44 inches. We can see that it had a lot of engraving work on the fittings, however oxidation and repeated cleaning unfortunately has made these now faint. It looks to have undergone a partial restoration at some point, with the fittings left bright, while the barrel was left a nice dark oxidized color.

The rifle features a lovely back action lock, and is all iron mounted, with the exception of the front sling loop and barrel wedge escutcheons, which are brass, and the nose cap, which is "German Silver". The stock is lovely, with checkering around the wrist, and a lovely beveled edge around the ramrod channel, which enters the stock amidst some lovely carved designs. The rifle has a substantial butt stock with a lovely cheek piece on the left side, and a flat iron butt plate. There is a patch box on the right side, which originally had some great engraving on it, but now shows past oxidation. We can also see a small escutcheon on the back of the wrist, which looks to have a name on it.

The barrel is fitted with a simple flip sight at present, but we can see some tapped holes in the barrel tang, so it was most likely at some point fitted with a long range 'peep' sight or something similar. There are also two small screws on the left side of the breech plug, possibly where some other type of sight was fitted. The rifle has what looks like a large flathead screw on the bottom of the butt stock, which we assume is the sling fitting. There is an original brass tipped ramrod under the barrel.

Like many high end hunting rifles, this example is fitted with a "set trigger", where depressing the rear trigger first until it clicks and just touching the front trigger discharges the weapon, hopefully with great accuracy. It is fully functional at present, and the rear trigger must be "set" before the lock will cock at all. It does have a half cock position, and must be put to full cock before it will fire. We checked the bore, and it is in excellent condition, showing a mostly bright finish with crisp lands and grooves.

A very nice example of a German Jäger percussion rifle with some great features and nice research potential! Very impressive and ready to display!

Specifications:-
Year of Manufacture: circa 1850
Caliber:  about .56 inches
Ammunition Type: Cap and Ball
Barrel Length: 28 3/4 Inches
Overall Length: 44 Inches
Action type: Side action Percussion lock
Feed System: Single Shot

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