2025 Gunmaker's Hall Giveaway

february 2025 Gunmakers Hall report

Greetings From Indiana.

It’s been snowy and cold here. I’ve been holed up in the shop so long I’ve developed a severe case of cabin fever. While I was working in the shop last week, avoiding the cold weather and staying close to the woodstove, Brent Steele stopped by. Brent is a Board of Directors’ member, a past NMLRA president, former member of the Indiana State Senate, and a shotgun savant. He and his brother Byron have done a great deal over the years to support the NMLRA. You can learn a lot about shotguns, new and old, from either one of them. Brent and I had a great time examining an original shot pouch with a clever adjustable spout, and an old percussion shotgun I had purchased from Dick Chubb in September. Brent was able to make out that it had “William Moore, London, Laminated Steel” engraved on the rib. I really enjoy looking at old guns, there is so much you can learn from them. Seeing an old gun up close gives you a feel for the way things were meant to be. The lock, the shape of the hammer, the engraving, how the checkering was done, the shape of the wrist and forearm, all these things can give you an education. I encourage you to look at all the old guns you can, whether in person, at a show, or in a museum.

The February thaw should be coming along right about now. Around here it’s usually a week or so of warmer weather, around the middle of February. It’s a good time to get out and shake off that cabin fever. If it warms up enough, I’m planning to get out to the forge behind the shop. I’ve been working on melting brass and casting some brass gun components. If I can get the details worked out, we will do a brass casting demonstration at Gunmaker’s Hall during the spring shoot on the Walter Cline range in Friendship, Indiana.

Whether we have a thaw and it warms up or not, get out and do some shooting. I don’t care if the little pasture poodle saw his shadow on Ground Hog’s day or not, winter shooting can be a lot of fun. Snow and cold didn’t hold our forefathers back. If was snowing, they still needed to eat, they still needed to defend their homes. Battles in the 18th and 19th century, that were settled with swords, tomahawks and muzzleloaders still raged during the rain and snow. Winter will end at some point, but until then, keep your powder dry and keep shooting.

Morgan Priddy has been having some fun winning matches in the snow up in Michigan. Shooting against male competitors on January fifth, she won two of three matches. All of these matches were in the men’s class - that girl can shoot! That also means she knows what makes a muzzleloader work, and how to make it work well. The girl is a shooter, yes, and also a gun maker.

We are fortunate to have Morgan build the 2025 Incentive Gun for the NMLRA Gunmaker’s Hall Giveaway. This is the first time a woman has made a gun for the Gunmaker’s Hall Giveaway. Remember, this woman is highly skilled, and a competitive shooter too. She is also the granddaughter of master gunmaker Dennis Priddy. So yeah, she has mad skills. The gun she made for us has a 42-inch by 13/16-inch octagonal barrel, in .45 caliber (A caliber good for hunting and target work). It has a right-handed Siler percussion lock, with a drum & nipple, and a single trigger. The stock is ash wood, with a 13-1/2-inch length of trigger pull. Dennis said they made it for the common man and everyday shooter. The 2025 Incentive gun Morgan made is a good one, for both the shooter, and hunter. All you have to do to win this fine gun that Morgan made is to buy some tickets. The $50 ticket purchase options will give you 25 chances to win Morgan’s gun. If you don’t win her gun, those tickets will be put in the drawing for the rest of the giveaway prizes. That’s a pretty good deal for a once in a lifetime competitive rifle.

That rifle Morgan made is only one of the many things we have in this year’s Gunmaker’s Hall Giveaway. Master gunmaker Dick Miller has also made a rifle for the giveaway. I’ll have more details on it next month. Along with the two muzzle loading rifles we have a powder horn, a shooting pouch, a hunting knife, and a hand-made quilt for prizes.

All you have to do to win these great prizes is to buy some tickets. By purchasing Gunmaker’s Hall Giveaway tickets you get a chance to win, and you support the NMLRA and Gunmaker’s Hall. That is a definite win.

If you, your company, or someone you know would like to contribute an appropriate prize item for our drawing, or simply make a donation to Gunmaker’s Hall, please contact me at gunmakershall@nmlra.org or call the NMLRA office at 812-432-2670. Donations are greatly appreciated by myself, the Gunmaker’s Hall Committee, and the NMLRA.

The schedule of ticket prices for the drawing will remain the same as last year: one ticket for $5, 3 tickets for $10, eight tickets for $20, and 25 tickets for $50. Those who subscribe to the $50 option will have their tickets held separate and entered first into the drawing for Morgan Priddy’s Incentive Gun. After the Incentive Gun drawing, all tickets will be brought together for the main drawing featuring Dick Miller’s longrifle, the pouch, horn, and other prizes. You can purchase tickets at Gunmaker’s Hall during the national shoots, in the magazine, and on the NMLRA website, nmlra.org. You may copy tickets printed from the magazine and the web, but please make sure the size stays the same. When you cut out the tickets, please trim them to size. When you put your contact information on the ticket, please put your NMLRA member number on there too. Tickets will be printed the month this article appears and each month until the August issue. Send your tickets and money to the NMLRA, PO Box 67, Friendship, IN 47021. You could win one of two custom long rifles or any of the other handmade items provided to our drawing. We would appreciate your support! This drawing is not valid where prohibited by law.

I’ll see you at the Hall.
Benjaman Quearry
gunmakershall@nmlra.org

For more information and printable tickets - click here.

Bill Large Giveaway

During that shoot there were some rumors going around about the NMLRA and money. The recent price increases seem to fuel that. I know there was a price increase on just about everything from membership to camping fees. Many are upset by it, but I’m not sure if everyone understands why prices went up. I also know that we haven’t kept our prices up with inflation. Along with that, Covid was hard on us; we missed two shoots in 2020, and the revenue they would have generated. During Covid the price of everything went up, but they didn’t come back down after Covid. Just one example is the cost of paper for printing. It went up out of sight. I know, I’m a publisher; the cost of paper almost put my little company of business. The cost of paper to print our beloved Muzzle Blasts magazine went up too, but we didn’t charge anymore for it, until now. Everything costs us more now, targets, gas to mow the range, everything. Unfortunately, now it’s time to balance the scales.

I’ve heard the rumors about money and the NMLRA, we all have. Many of those rumors have been going around for decades, but I don’t put much stock in them. Managing the finances of an association the size of the NMLRA, a 501(c)(3) non-profit is a huge job. To help with that task we opted for a new financial system. The new system has already shown us where we need to improve. There were also some financial leaks in the boat, but we’ve got them plugged and we’re bailing water. It’s also shown us that we need more revenue. What all this means is, we are working hard to improve the financial condition of the NMLRA, but we do need to increase our prices.

What I do know is, the NMLRA stands for American freedom, American liberty, it stands for the respect of America and its history. The NMLRA stands for what I believe in. I’ll bet it stands for what you believe in too. So, if the NMLRA needs me, I’m going to stand up and support it. A price increase is a bummer, but it is worth it to support the American institution, our American institution, that is the NMLRA.

I do have some good news, and a way to help support the NMLRA. We are starting a new giveaway this fall. This is a great opportunity for you to win an incredible prize package, and benefit the NMLRA. This one is really special; we received a rifle as a gift from the estate of a long time NMLRA member. We were told to use the muzzleloader to support the NMLRA, and that is what its previous owner would have wanted. He loved the NMLRA to his dying days, and wanted to see it prosper. So, to honor the estate of this fine gentleman, and to follow his last wishes, we are starting a giveaway based on the rifle that he left us. I feel really honored to help do this for an NMLRA member that has passed.

The rifle he left us is a nice little Hawken style half stock, brass mounted with a beautiful curly maple stock. It has a percussion lock with a drum and nipple. The barrel is a .40 caliber, and 34 inches long. The under rib is soldered to the barrel, and the ramrod pipes are soldered to the under rib. It shows the work of an experienced gunmaker, it is very well made, but unfortunately the maker didn’t sign their work. There is no gunmaker’s name on the barrel, but there is the barrel maker’s name. That name is quite interesting. It is the mark of the highest quality barrel you could obtain at the time this gun was made, a Bill Large match grade barrel.

On the left side flat of the barrel, near the breech, is stamped; “W. M. LARGE” in and arc. Under the arc “J.J.J.J.” is stamped, and below that is an “L”. This is the marking of master barrel maker Bill Large. By putting his stamp in this location on the barrel, he guaranteed that his name and mark would be visible when the gun was finished, and that made the gun more valuable.

The “W. M. LARGE” is obvious. The “J.J.J.J.” are the first initials of his four daughters, and the “L” is for their last name of Large. Bill must have been a proud daughter-daddy like me and Tippy Curtis. He was so proud he put their initials on his barrels. I’ve been told their names were Jeanie, Joanne, Janette and Janice Large.

Bill Large was an interesting character. He got his start in the NMLRA as its youngest founding charter member in 1933. At the fifty-year anniversary of the NMLRA Bill Large fired the first shot. At that time, he was the only surviving founding charter member of the NMLRA. Bill died in 1985.

A few years ago, I wrote this in Muzzle Blasts; “We all love accurate muzzle loaders. At the heart of that accuracy is the barrel. In times past barrels were hand forged from skelps of iron and welded into a tube. Today barrels are drilled from bar stock made of high-quality alloy steel.  When I think of great barrel makers of the modern era, men who can turn a bar of steel into a barrel capable of tack driving, minute of angle accuracy, a few that come to mind include Bill Large, John Braxton, Don Getz, Howard Kelly, Wally Hart, Jason Schneider and John Kleihege.”

Notice that Bill Large is first on the list of barrel makers. He was one of the pioneers of modern muzzleloader barrel making. He started with reworking old barrels in the 1930’s and 40’s. While working at the Springfield Armory during World War Two, he learned how to make barrels from steel bar stock. This required drilling a hole equal to the caliber of the barrel, through the length of the solid bar stock, sometimes to a depth of four feet! Bill became a master of boring barrels. He also became a master of rifling them. For many years, a Bill Large barrel was the one to beat. Today we have a number of barrel manufactures to choose from. Long before those barrels were available, Bill Large was making some of the most accurate match barrels that money could buy. I’ll be talking more about Bill Large, and his history with the NMLRA, in the next article of this series.

This is a neat little gun that we have for the Bill Large Giveaway. It is really a piece of NMLRA history. I’ll bet it will be a good shooter too. I think the .40 caliber is an inherently accurate size of bore for a muzzleloading rifle. Over the years I’ve heard a lot shooters swear by the accuracy of .40 caliber barrels. That coupled with the fact that this this is a Bill Large match barrel, leads me, Terry Snyder, and Rocky to think this rifle will be a tack driver.

That’s not all though. I’ve asked a few friends to help me with the Bill Large Giveaway. Jeff Luke, master leather worker and period craftsman, has joined in to make a Bill Large themed bag to go with the gun. Henry Bowman, Honourable Company of Horners Master Horner is making a Bill Large inspired horn to go along with the gun. Peter Wygant, who is a master wood worker, has made an awesome shooting box for the giveaway. Nancy Thelen of Michigan has donated one of her fine hand-made quilts. There is also a beautiful rifle sleeve that Bill Large would be proud of, made by Gary Nebel of Gary’s Gunsmith Shop.

Tickets for this drawing are $20. Twenty bucks isn’t really that much for a chance to win this handcrafted rifle and all the gear that comes with it. I threw down twenty dollars at McDonalds on the drive to the last shoot I attended. I should have spent that money on a ticket to support the NMLRA. For an even better deal, you can get 6 tickets for $100. All these donations go to support the NMLRA, and in doing so, honor the wishes of a member that has passed.

Dave Ehrig, Muzzle Blasts editor and avid Pennsylvania hunter, bought the first ticket. I think it’s time we all follow Dave’s lead and buy some tickets for this giveaway.

Tickets are $20 each, or 6 tickets for $100. You can purchase tickets at the Gunmaker’s Hall Booth during the national shoots, in the magazine, and on the NMLRA website nmlra.org. You may copy tickets printed from the magazine and the web, but please make sure the size stays the same. When you cut out the tickets, please trim them to size. When you put your contact information on the ticket, please put your NMLRA member number on there too. Tickets will be printed the month this article appears and each month until the September 2025 issue when we will have the giveaway. Send your tickets and money to the NMLRA, PO Box 67, Friendship, IN 47021. You could win this fine rifle, shooting box, the pouch, horn, rifle sleeve, and the quilt. On top of that you could win a piece of NMLRA history. We would appreciate your support! This drawing is not valid where prohibited by law.

If you, your company, or someone you know would like to contribute an appropriate prize item for this drawing, make a donation, or simply know something about Bill Large and want to share it, please contact me at gunmakershall@nmlra.org. Donations are greatly appreciated by the Gunmaker’s Hall Committee, the NMLRA and me,.

Thank you for your support, and I’ll see you at the Hall
Benjaman Quearry, NMLRA Gunmaker’s Hall Chairman
gunmakershall@nmlra.org

2024 Gunmakers Hall Giveaway

Have you been thinking about a new gun for this year? Or possibly a new pouch, horn, or knife? That can add up to a lot of money, especially for a custom muzzle loader or other handmade gear. Here’s an idea, instead of spending all that hard earned money on a new gun, or gear, why not enter for a chance to win it? This year we are once again having our Gunmaker’s Hall Giveaway. This is a great opportunity to win a custom muzzle loader and many other handcrafted items. It’s also a great way to support the NMLRA. All prizes are handmade by some of this country’s premier contemporary muzzle loading artists.

Here's a bit of how it works. The Gunmaker’s Hall Committee comes together, a year or more in advance, during the NMLRA spring shoot, and starts work on the following year’s prizes. We work on the giveaway guns and prizes at Gunmaker’s Hall, during the shoots held at the Walter Cline Range. We’ve been known to bore barrels, rifle barrels, inlet barrels into stocks, hand forge hardware, make knives, craft horn work, engrave metalwork, carve gunstocks, and even build entire guns, at the Hall during the shoot. Other artists and craftspeople stop by the Hall and share their knowledge. Presentations are given and discussions are held, often over the very projects that will be in the Gunmaker’s Hall Giveaway.  By the way, these presentations are free, and open to the public. All this work comes together in September at the Walter Cline Range during the NMLRA Fall Shoot at the annual Gunmaker’s Hall Giveaway, when we giveaway the muzzle loaders and the other handmade prizes.

We have two custom made rifles in the Gunmaker’s Hall Giveaway this year. Bart Copenhaver, a top notch gunmaker from Pennsylvania, made a Christian Oerter style flintlock. This is a beautiful piece and you will be seeing more of it in upcoming Muzzle Blasts articles. Warren Whitley, of Tennessee, made a really nice iron mounted Southern rifle for the Incentive Gun. Warren’s is another fine piece and really needs to be seen; it is beautiful. Warren’s gun will be featured in an upcoming article and both guns will be on display at Gunmaker’s Hall during the spring and fall shoots at the Walter Cline range in Friendship, Indiana.

Christian Oerter flintlock muzzleloader by Bart Copenheaver of Pennsylvania.

Southern Mountain flintlock muzzleloader by Warren Whitley of Tennessee.

Shooting pouch by Jeff Luke of Ohio.

We’ve got more fantastic prizes for the giveaway this year. Jeff Luke has presented his leather working skills at the Hall, has a booth on commercial row, and is a very fine craftsman. Jeff has made a really cool shooting bag for the giveaway. He makes something every year for us and this one is outstanding. We can’t thank him enough for everything he has done. Here’s what Jeff had to say about this year’s bag;

 “For my donation to this year's Gunmakers Hall Giveaway I wanted to create a hunting pouch that might have been seen in the southern mountain region of the country in the early to mid-19th century. The pouch is heart shaped, a common southern Appalachian style of the era, with turned construction and a "bearded" flap with six layers of hand cut fringe sewn to the flap face. The pouch is constructed of 3-4oz veg tanned cowhide and the 1" strap has a nice forged buckle by John Rader. Everything is handstitched with linen thread at six stitches per inch.” 

Wow, is that cool or what? Look at the pictures with this article and you will see what I mean. That pouch will make someone very happy (that someone could be you). It’ll probably make you shoot better too. Thank you, Jeff Luke!  

Wooden shooting box made by Russel Combs.

Russel Combs donated a hand made shooting box to the giveaway.  Gunmaker’s Hall has helped to support the pistol line over the years and Russ wanted to return the favor by supporting Gunmaker’s Hall and the NMLRA. His has offered the choice of one, of his three handcrafted wooden shooting boxes. Made in Cherry, Walnut and Red Cedar, they are all works of the highest art. Which one would you choose? We’re taking a poll and will decide during the June Shoot at the Walter Cline Range in Friendship Indiana.

What do you have to do to win the pouch Jeff Luke made, one of Russel’s shooting boxes, or one of those fine muzzle loading rifles? Simply buy some tickets for the 2024 Gunmaker’s Hall Giveaway. The tickets are available for sale at Gunmaker’s Hall during the spring and fall shoots, in Muzzle Blasts, and on the NMLRA website (nmlra.org). You could be a prize winner!

The schedule of ticket prices for the drawing will remain the same as last year: one ticket for $5, 3 tickets for $10, eight tickets for $20, and 25 tickets for $50. Those who subscribe to the $50 option will have their tickets held separate and entered first into the drawing for the Incentive Gun made by Warren Whitley. After this drawing, all tickets will be brought together for the main drawing featuring Bart Copenheaver’s longrifle, the pouch, box, and other prizes. You can purchase tickets at Gunmaker’s Hall during the national shoots, in the magazine, and on the NMLRA website nmlra.org. You may copy tickets printed from the magazine and the web, but please make sure the size stays the same. When you cut out the tickets, please trim them to size. When you put your contact information on the ticket, please put your NMLRA member number on there too. Send your tickets and money to the NMLRA, PO Box 67, Friendship, IN 47021. You could win one of two custom long rifles or any of the other handmade items provided to our drawing. We would appreciate your support! This drawing is not valid where prohibited by law.

If you, your company, or someone you know would like to contribute an appropriate prize item for our drawing, or simply make a donation to Gunmaker’s Hall, please contact me at gunmakershall@gmail.com Donations are greatly appreciated by myself, the Gunmaker’s Hall Committee and the NMLRA.

I’ll see you at the Hall.

Benjaman Quearry, gunmakershall@gmail.com

See the NMLRA website for printable
tickets by clicking here.

Gunmaker's Hall Giveaway Winners

Congratulations to the winners of the Gunmakers Hall Giveway. These were drawn Saturday, September 17th on the porch of Gunmaker’s Hall . Live video of drawing can be seen here https://fb.watch/fY9ulSwJyP/.

Incentive Rifle - Mark Wolfe

Quilt - Rasmus K. Saile

Place Mats - Claudia Bahorik

4 Wood Bowls - Walter Fett

Pouch - Wayne Braxton

Horn - Cal Merritt

Knife in Sheth - Dale Reeley

Antler Handle Knife - Jim Jerkins

5 piece Horn Set - Joe Solomon

French Fowler - Mayo Jones

And thank you to all the donors who help to make this drawing possible.