I’m sure you have heard that PA designated the Pennsylvania rifle as the official firearm of the Commonwealth in May of this year. The
WHEREAS’s of the bill weave the rich, gun-making tradition in PA and its important role in the development of the emerging U.S. During the settling of the northeast the rifle provided sustenance, security and survival and gunsmiths in Northampton and Lancaster counties created a new rifle well suited for a budding nation. Perhaps James Fenimore Cooper helped immortalize the rifle in his novels
The Deerslayer and
The Last of the Mohicans. The state of Kentucky has not yet weighed in.
To this day, PA continues to create great rifles in small lots by craftsman who know a thing or two about rifles. The E.R. Shaw barrel company has been making rifle barrels for over 95 years. They actually make barrels for some rifle manufactures as well as make barrels for custom builds. Their barrels are renowned for their accuracy. Something new out the PA factory is custom built rifles—the
Mark VII—that mates a Shaw barrel to a Winchester, Savage or Remington action with either a walnut, laminate wood or synthetic stock. The price starts at $670 which is much less than some out-of-the-box, big brand guns. I’m sure Natty Bumppo or Uncas if they were alive today would chase whitetails with a Shaw.
