CUMBERLAND — When Mark Smith studies an old rifle, his mind travels back to the time and place it was created.
He considers the craftsmanship and meaning behind symbols a gunsmith intricately carved into a piece centuries ago.
“You feel it … seeing back into that person,” he said. “All the time he worked on it, some of his soul has to be in it.”
Smith, who isn’t a shooter, searches at auctions and shows for old American long rifles made in Hampshire County, West Virginia, to add to his collection.
“They’re rare,” he said of the guns made locally between about 1770 and 1870. “But they’re out there.”
Smith, 64, of Springfield, West Virginia, has been building his array for roughly 20 years, and currently has about 25 Hampshire County rifles, plus a couple likely made in Allegany County.
“I like Hampshire County history,” he said. “And I’ve just always liked guns.”
Smith talked of the progression of the old American long rifles.
Earlier models were fired by a flint spark, which was replaced by a percussion ignition device after about the 1830s, he said.
“It was an improvement,” Smith said.
Most locally-made rifles had maple stocks, he said.
“Each one is unique,” Smith said. “They were built by numerous people.”
One of the gunsmiths he studied was the Rev. Roland Savage Dayton, who was born in 1814 and died in 1900.
Smith visited Dayton’s grave in McCoole, and has owned some rifles the gunsmith crafted.
“To me, they’re masterpieces,” he said.
The event
Smith and his fellow American long rifle experts John McKee and Tim Hodges will speak at an event sponsored by the Allegany County Historical Society on Saturday.
The program, Long Guns of the Upper Potomac, will highlight the area’s history and gun-making heritage.
It will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. at the History Discovery Center at Blue Spring in the 1845 Canada Hose House, 400 N. Mechanic St.
Seating is limited and reservations are required.
Visit alleganycountyhistory.org for more.
The venue
ACHS President Dave Williams consulted Smith after someone donated an old rifle to the historical society.
That “mystery” gun will be part of Saturday’s discussion, along with pieces the experts plan to bring, Williams said.
He said the program is part of the inaugural season of history discovery sessions.
“This style of programming is perfect for the space,” he said of the former fire house.
“(It’s) relaxed like a book club meeting, but we bring the book,” Williams said.