Rifle

Creator

Brooks, Oscar, ca. 1832-n.d.

Date

• 1860-1890

Summary

• Rifle, Oscar Brooks, Janesville, mid-nineteenth century. .45 caliber half stock percussion rifle with octagonal barrel. Original ramrod, possibly hickory. Brass trigger guard and butt plate. Walnut stock with steel inlays, including a pheasant on right butt stock, a blank plaque on left butt stock, a blank oval on top of grip, and a heart and a pointing dog on left fore stock.
• Barrel stamped “O. Brooks/ Janesville Wis”
• Firearms expert Bruce Briney, who provided the description for this rifle, suggests that the barrel blank was probably manufactured by Remington, then Brooks built around it. The lock may have been purchased or made by Brooks, but no name is visible. In federal census records for 1870 and 1880, Oscar Brooks is recorded as a gunsmith living in Janesville, Wisconsin.