doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Single Shot 50cal Stalking Rifle by Nowotny-Prag

Another one on the 'to-do' bench. A single shot 50cal breech loader. Marked 'J Nowotny-Prag' on the top of the octagon swamped barrel. Underlever action with DST. The bore is absolutely pristine. I haven't done a chamber cast to check out the cartridge possibility but it appears to be something of a straight cased number. When I spotted this at a show, several others were checking it out at the same time. What really held my interest was that the original hammer was still with the rifle. Securely attached to the trigger guard with a bread bag twist tie so as not to loose that precious item. I cringed at every opening and closing of the action in the hands of the curious few as the fireing pin was still in the action and was free to fall forward. Upon closing the action the barrel came down with a 'thunk' on the top of the pin. Enough of that and I bought the thing. The wooden patch box was stuck shut though the release button, the flower center on the face worked OK. I figured the MinWax all-in-one stain & poly finish applied to the stock had done a seal up job on the little door but I wasn't worried :(. The front swivel was missing from the barrel and the original pistol grip rail was replaced with a finely dremel carved replacement in white pine finished in Krylon Hi-Sheen black. No doubt the restorer figured it would pass as ebony to even the most keen eyed expert. Once in my hands and able to really look it over, I began to like it even more. The 50cal bore, DST and known maker, etc. I got the patch/accesory box open by mearly loosening the top butt plate screw a bit to unbind some preassure on the end of the sliding door. Inside was the front barrel sling swivel! Looks as if it came undone partially and bent downward. Then either pulled off of came off the rest of the way. Something else I don't have to make. The hammer is undamaged in any way. The lock tumbler spindle had broken off flush with the lock plate at some time. SOme one had stub welded a repair piece on to it to reattach the hammer but it didn't hold and went no further,,thank goodness. A new spindle is an easy repair. The tang site base on the top of the wrist is probably a later addition, that will most likely go. Pretty neat old rifle to restore and not alot of heavy work to be done. I recall an article in DGJ a ways back on some Nowotny guns and a SS rifle was mentioned at the end. Maybe I can get an idea of the grip carving somewhere. Just a few other things to get out of the way first. Here's some quick pics before the light fades. The hammer, mainspring I removed from the lock and the fireing pin are next to the rifle. A couple of the pics I just balanced the hammer into position so you could get an idea of what it looks like complete.

Nowotny is one of the best makers - you have found a treasure, and I'm sure you are more than capable of doing the restoration work. It will make, again, a fine stalking rifle.

Johann Nowotny, Prag 1865-1900, a fine maker and worth the time and effort to restore. Please update us as the work progresses. Would that have had a "Lollipop" sight on the tang?

Thanks Michael,, I think the site base is most probably for one of those type. Perhaps with the windage adj in the disc as well. But I do think it was added later to the rifle from the looks of it. The attachment method, the wood screw base is out of character for the rest of the rifle I think and there's no area in the 'patch box' inletted for anything specific. Just my guesses. I'll probably eliminate it from the rifle as I look at it now, but that could change as I get to work on it (sometime!) and do some research on it as best I can.
A small wood inlay to match the grain taken from a slice of the stock on an inside surface and carefully matched and finished to hide it. Or another way would be a small gold wrist inlay. A shield, oval or the like with an engraved border wouldn't be out of character but not original of course. But then neither will the grip rail carving.
There's a few dents and dings to be fixed on the wood in other places as well.
The take down is interesting in that the forend is a semi-permanent attachment to the receiver by the hinge pin. When taken down, the barrel wedge is removed, action opened and barrel swings down, Then the barrel with the wedge removed is pushed/pulled to the rear slightly and up to clear the action. The forend remains attached to the action. I can see a few dents to the forend wood where attempts for pulling the forend off in the usual manner didn't work and then some failed force was used along the edges. I've seen a few other single shots with the same take down system.

Kutter, many muzzle-loading single shot rifles have a gold or silver or ivory plate inletted into the top of the wrist and decorated with engraving or scrimshaw work. I've seen some gargoyle faces as well as, in one instance, an engraving of a Griffin that I assume was meant to act as a particularly imaginative sort of monogram for the owner's (Griffin's) name. An inlay of ebony with a silver or gold wire design in it could also be used.

These plates apparently also acted as a sort of built-in permanent antimacassar, protecting the wood of the top of the wrist from the effects of the oil and abrasion from the owner's thumb. I'm sure there's a name for such a plate but I've never built a muzzle-loader and so I don't know the names of all their furniture.
Just a thought, regards, Joe

One of his pistol grips,
http://www.hermann-historica.de/auktion/...;db=kat48_S.txt

More of his work,
http://www.littlegun.be/arme%20tchecoslovaque/ancien%20artisan/a%20nowotny%20gb.htm

Serial No. 2300 45 caliber,

Some continued to place the initial shield on the wrist of the stock for early breech-loaders, then it was moved to the bottom of the stock. One would look right on your rifle IMO.

Michael:

Do have the birth/death dates for Johann M. Nowotny who was from Leitmeritz( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Litom%C4%9B%C5%99ice ) near Prague? I've read that he began circa 1840 with Klawitter of Herzberg am Harz( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herzberg_am_Harz ) on the crank operated Gallery Gun(1840-1870) and the Drilling pic from Halloween & Co on littlegun's site shows tubes that were proofed/proved in Germany and then again in Prague in 1907. I've also read that he was active in Suhl. So did he have a shop in Suhl and one in Bohemia? Or were there a couple generations of Nowotnys or was he just a firearms merchant near the end?

Kutter: are any proofmarks or the like on the underside of barrels?

Kind Regards,

Raimey
rse

That wrist inlay pic is about what I had in mind if I went in that direction. Something small and uncomplicated with an engraved border to accent it a bit. The ebony inlay with gold wire inlay is a good idea too. Hadn't thought of that one. An inlay of some sorts is probably the best way after rethinking it and it wouldn't be out of line here certainly.
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The grip was originally a separate piece, either horn, ebony, wood, etc. There is a slight inlet for it's length. The original trigger guard which looks unaltered, appears to have had it's pistol grip shaped tang inletted into it and then the carving took over from there and extended a ways down the straight stock bottom line. Probably providing both a slight extension of the pistol grip form as well as a style of period carving. Those links provide pics of what I believe was on the gun or at least something very close to it. Thank you for those!
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No marking what so ever on the action or barrel flats aside from the guns serial number. The serial number on the barrel is stamped up ahead of the flats on the bottom by the wedge loop. No 'inspectors or workers' marks, single digit letters or numbers,,nothing. I'm not familiar with the proof laws all that much but recall that pre 1891(?) Germany didn't require any proof. So perhaps this was made prior to the same situation in Prag-land.
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The lock plate is engraved 'J. Saml(Sami?) in Budweis'....retailer??
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Here's a couple of more pics of the rifle taken down. You can see how the forend stays attached to the action.
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Close at hand I only have what info I posted and don't have when he was born or died. Over the years I have seen the work of two Nowotnys. Johann of Prag Bohemia (Praha-Prague)who did very nice work and Mattthias Nowotny of Wien (Veinne) Austria who was brilliant.

There were at least a half-dozen gunmakers listed in the USA with the spelling of Novotny.

J. Saml(Sami?) in Budweis does not show up in the Stockels so a good chance he was a retailer.