Nice find today

[fyrffytr1]

I took my wife antiquing today and we stopped at a shop in a small town. I struck up a conversation with the owner and after talking for a while he asked if I would like to see his advertising room that was closed to the public. I said sure, so he walked me to the next shop, unlocked the door and told me to look all I wanted. While I was overwhelmed by the amount of advertising memorabilia he had a baseball bat sized wooden piece got my attention and I asked him about it. I already knew what i was but wanted to hear his take on it. He told me he found it in an old barn the next town over and from what he had learned, it was called a Dawson blank. And that is what it was. I had one in my possession some years back but the original owner asked me to return it so he could donate it to the local museum. That was the agreement we made when we traded so I returned it to him and he gave back my stoneware grave marker.
I asked him if it was something he would sale and he said he would have to check with his wife so he took the blank and walked back next door. I turned to my wife and said I was going to buy it if I could afford to.
A few minutes later he walked back in and had a price sticker attached to it. When he showed me the price I almost fainted! He then said he would take a little less and I couldn't get the money out of my wallet fast enough. I won't reveal the price here but suffice to say it was less than a quarter of what I was prepared to pay!
This blank is for a Confederate rifle made at the Dawson Armory in Dawson, Ga. and will make a great addition to my "Man Room"!

 

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[ToddsPoint]

Very interesting piece. I've been a stock maker for 40 yrs. and also a Civil War buff. I always wondered if any of these survived. Now I know. Any idea what kind of wood you have there?

 

[HCW]

looks like ash to me, but could any # of things.
If you plane one side down you may have a better idea

 

[Almy]

I'd guess basswood from the uniformity and color. Does it have an unpleasant smell? The oil in basswood often gets rancid, giving the wood a distinctive and not very pleasant odour.

 

[crashbandicoot]

It,s dang sure pretty,I like obscure wood pieces.Great find and way to be on the ball when an opportunity presents itself.

 

[fyrffytr1]

I am not sure on the wood but it doesn't have a bad smell to it. It hardly smells at all. I would think it is a local wood but it could have been shipped in. The Armory that made it was open from early 1864 until the end of the war and only produced about 3,600 muskets and carbines.

 

[fyrffytr1]

The stock is 36"s long and 2"s wide. The fore end from top to bottom is about 1.5"s and the butt is 4.5"s tall. It weighs 3 pounds, 1.5 ounces. Here are a few more pictures. The grain is very straight with one minor "knot" on one side of the fore arm. Remember, this piece is around 156 years old.
One other thing that I just remembered is the Armory in north Georgia was moved here to south west Georgia to keep it safe from the invading Yankees. So. the wood mayhave come with it.

 

[crashbandicoot]

I,m going out on a limb but that grain looks a lot like cypress.Cypress is light too,which seems like your piece is sort of light for the size.probably wrong but won,t be the first time.

 

[antmike915]

Excellent

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Definitely a unique piece of US CW history right there fyrffytr1!
Congratulations on finding it,
Dave

 

[fyrffytr1]

I took this piece to a good friend today who just happens to own and run a saw mill. His opinion is that the stock is walnut.

 

[fyrffytr1]

I have read two articles on the Dawson Armory. In one they said walnut was used but the second stated cherry.

 

[crashbandicoot]

All the walnut and cherry I,ve ever seen was darker than that wood and walnut has a tighter grain.Not to say I couldn,t be wrong,I very well could be since I,ve not seen all the walnut or cherry in the US.

 

[Digger RJ]

I took my wife antiquing today and we stopped at a shop in a small town. I struck up a conversation with the owner and after talking for a while he asked if I would like to see his advertising room that was closed to the public. I said sure, so he walked me to the next shop, unlocked the door and told me to look all I wanted. While I was overwhelmed by the amount of advertising memorabilia he had a baseball bat sized wooden piece got my attention and I asked him about it. I already knew what i was but wanted to hear his take on it. He told me he found it in an old barn the next town over and from what he had learned, it was called a Dawson blank. And that is what it was. I had one in my possession some years back but the original owner asked me to return it so he could donate it to the local museum. That was the agreement we made when we traded so I returned it to him and he gave back my stoneware grave marker.
I asked him if it was something he would sale and he said he would have to check with his wife so he took the blank and walked back next door. I turned to my wife and said I was going to buy it if I could afford to.
A few minutes later he walked back in and had a price sticker attached to it. When he showed me the price I almost fainted! He then said he would take a little less and I couldn't get the money out of my wallet fast enough. I won't reveal the price here but suffice to say it was less than a quarter of what I was prepared to pay!
This blank is for a Confederate rifle made at the Dawson Armory in Dawson, Ga. and will make a great addition to my "Man Room"!

Nice!!! Congrats!!!