LOUDONVILLE — They were called gunsmiths, those early Americans who made muzzle- loading rifles, and there were many who tried their hand at making the only type of firearms developed at the time.
Muzzle-loading rifles are reloaded by hand after each shot, with gunpowder poured down the barrel; a bullet, mostly lead balls, was pushed down on top of the powder with a long stick called a ramrod.
There were major companies, mostly in the eastern United States, that made muzzleloaders, but, as America grew, there were also many small, one-man or only a few craftsmen operations in less populated areas and on the frontier.
One such gunmaker made rifles for many years in Loudonville, 25 miles north of Mount Vernon in Ashland County. The man, Peter Reinhard, apparently made several hundred guns in a period of 30 years, from 1850 until the early 1880s. By then, metal cartridges and repeating rifles, such as the famous Winchester lever action gun, put an end to muzzleloaders.
The Cleo Redd Fisher Museum in Loudonville has a collection of Reinhard’s guns, and a story on his gunmaking career. Reinhard was born in the German state of Bavaria in 1827 and immigrated to the United States with his parents when he was 5 years old. The family settled in Columbus. As a teenager, Reinhard apprenticed to a Columbus gunmaker, then opened his own shop at age 20. Newly married in 1849, he made his way to Loudonville, where he bought the business of gunmaker William Sprague.
In 1855, he went to Rochester, N.Y., to study under William Billinghurst, considered the best gunsmith in the world at the time. Back in Loudonville, the guns Reinhard made were much in demand. Reinhard was also a skilled marksman with his own rifles, and his shooting brought a demand for his guns.
History relates Reinhard won first prize at the 1877 national shoot, as well as bringing home wins in matches around Ohio and neighboring states. The cost of an ordinary muzzleloader was $14 to $18, but one of Reinhard’s match (target) rifles with a wooden carrying case and accessories sold for the big sum of $50 or more.
When the muzzle-loading business died out, Reinhard made a living repairing rifles, still making the occasional muzzleloader for diehard muzzle-loading shooters.
Today, the Reinhard muzzleloaders are collector guns, with those in good condition bringing upward of $1,000. Ornate guns with inlays in the wood stock bring much more. The museum has a collection of 10 Reinhard muzzleloaders of various years.
Museum director Jim Sharp said all of the guns are in working order. Gunmakers used different kinds of wood for stocks, a favorite being curly maple. One of those is in the collection.
There is a Knox County connection to gunsmiths. Fredericktown’s Boyd “Si” Blackburn made muzzle-loading rifles from the 1920s to the middle 1960s. His son, Dr. Edward Blackburn, has the last one Si Blackburn made. Actually, it belongs to Dr. Blackburn’s son, Chris, as Si made it when his new grandson was born.
Dr. Blackburn remembers the muzzleloaders his father made as having a beautiful muzzle report. Si Blackburn’s rifle making skill went with him into World War II at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., where he made rifles for the Army. A machine used by Blackburn to make rifles is now in the Loudonville Museum, a donation made by Dr. Blackburn a couple of years ago.
Dr. Blackburn recalls that his father owned one of the Reinhard rifles, bought during the depression for a dollar.
There was also a prolific gunmaker in Danville. His name was Sam Stull, who made his first gun at the age of 12; he made the last one at the age of 96 in 1906. A great-grandson, Lonnie Stull of Danville, said Sam was well known for his gunsmithing skills. A brother to Sam Stull, Phillip Stull, also made guns, but in fewer numbers.
Sam Stull’s home and gun shop was on what is now U.S. 62, south of Millwood. Lonnie Stull has a book of notes on his great-grandfather’s career. One story is that Sam had to go to Canton to buy barrel blanks. He walked both ways and carried home seven of the barrels. Back then, rifle barrels had a lot of heavy metal in them.
Lonnie Stull, himself a gunsmith, now mostly retired, has seven of his great-grandfather’s guns in his collection. The last gun Sam Stull make, a .22-caliber cartridge gun, is in the collection of Gene Rice of Danville. Rice said he acquired the rifle in a roundabout way from the Stull family in 1964.
