The second Masonic Kentucky rifle, to be raffled off to Masons ONLY, is finished, as you can see in the photos. It has a swamped .45 caliber Getz barrel, 44” long. The lock is a finely tuned Chambers’ “Golden Age” lock. I made double set triggers. The stock is super tiger maple, quarter sawn. The butt plate and trigger guard are brass castings. The first Masonic Kentucky rifle was valued at $20,000 Usd. This one exceeds that one, by far. As usual, the decoration is mostly Masonic symbolism. For example, the patch box is made to resemble a coffin lid, inlaid with a sliver moon and a sprig of acacia. Engraved upon it are the sun and seven stars, to complete the ensemble. The muzzle cap, and the ramrod pipes have silver wedding bands, engraved in ropework, an allusion to the cable tow. Silver inlays in the pipes are: the forward pipe: the Junior Warden’s plumb rule, the middle pipe: the Senior Warden’s level, and the rear, or entry pipe: the Master’s square. The cheek piece inlay is the all-seeing eye of God, with silver rays extending outward. Beneath it are silver compasses, which cross the square, here formed into the Masonic shaking hands.
The cheek piece inlay is bordered on one side by the Rising Sun, an allusion to my Lodge, Rising Sun #85, G.R.C., which will be celebrating its 150th Anniversary in 2007. There are a few “rising suns” inlaid or engraved on this rifle, so I call it “The Rising Sun Gun”. The other side of the inlay is bordered by seven brass stars, and a silver moon.
The draw took place on December 27th, 2007. The rifle was won by a gentleman from Tamworth, Ontario.
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