I attributed this rifle to Steve Meunier more as a matter of elimination than anything else. Because we have such a diverse audience here with single-shot folks as well as classic rifle enthuses I thought it might be worth a second look. I still believe that the buttplate may be a key to the puzzle.
Steve Meunier: By Michael Petrov©
Steve was the brother of John Meunier, a famous Milwaukee gunmaker well known for his caplock Schuetzen rifles as well as for his prowess in shooting them. Steve was born in 1853 in Woerishofen, Germany and immigrated to the US with his family in 1857. He apprenticed to his brother John at age thirteen. Although I have read several references to Steve Meunier and bolt action sporting rifles I have only seen one, a Krag sporter illustrated in The Outer’s Book July, 1909. This Krag was a worked- over issue stock so not a lot of clues are present to compare other rifles to it. For that matter I know of no gun percussion or centerfire, marked with his name. If anyone has a Steve Meunier marked rifle of any kind I would like to learn about it. At a later date the company name was changed from John Meunier Gun Company to Meunier Gun Company so they may be marked in this way. The Meunier Gun Company was located at 272 West Water Street, Milwaukee as late as 1941.
The rifle I am going to tell you about with the accompanying pictures I believe may have been made by Steve Meunier. I would like to make it very clear that I have no proof he made it and beyond what I’ve figured out from using the process of elimination and circumstantial evidence I have nothing.
This rifle was discovered in an upscale East Coast custom gunmaking shop by the world’s leading authority on custom Krag sporting rifles, my friend, Mark Benenson. Not having that pound of metal hanging off the right side of the rifle like a Krag the 1903 Springfield looked odd & incomplete to Mark so he hurried to the phone and called me. The rifle is an NRA sales rifle (NRA and ordnance bomb on forward trigger guard housing) from Rock Island Arsenal serial number 220892 with a barrel date of RIA 10-12. The blued bolt, sling swivel barrel band through the stock, long slide Lyman 48, sweptback pistol grip and Schnabel forend all point to very early manufacture. The layout, workmanship, fit and finish are top notch; the rifle was clearly made by a gunmaker of some skill. There is nothing about the rifle that I can attribute to Worthen, Adolph or Wundhammer so Meunier is the winner by default. The rifle has a steel buttplate with a single number cast into it and is completely unknown to me. At first I thought it might be from an early single-shot rifle like the Sharps Borchardt or Marlin Ballard, but after comparing them all I’ve determined it’s not. The rear sight spline is expertly filled and if you did not know to look there it would never be noticed. Another feature unique to this rifle is the carved stock. The carving is much like that found on a percussion long rifle. I laid a piece of paper over the butt stock carving and traced both sides. When the paper was removed and folded over they were a perfect mirror image. Obviously this was not his first attempt at such carving. There is a small diamond of ivory inlaid in the forend tip. The stock is made from imported walnut and has a blank gold initial shield. This is a nice rifle that I would like to be able, some day, to attribute to its maker whether it’s Steve Meunier or someone else.
