- Location
- British Columbia
For anyone who was at the Calgary show, there was a Soper percussion rifle on display. I heard about it after the fact. Does anyone know who had it there?
thx
BA
thx
BA
Last edited:
Calgary show
- Thread starter boltaction
- Start date
Did it sell? How much? Pics?
geotndtwine
CGN Regular
- Location
- Calgary, Alberta
Tough one, best bet if your willing to take the drive to Consort or Red Deer show this coming month a lot of the guys will have their table set up there. As for being sold I was at the Calgary show and VERY little sold as I believe people have less money and the prices where the worst I have seen for years and years, I am used to seeing prices near 150% value this time a lot was near 200% value if not higher.
Epps has (had) a few Soper's when I was last up there.
There was a couple brothers and either an uncle or nephew, plus one of the son's - all Sopers that built firearms, primarily in London Ontario (then called Western Canada), with the uncle or nephew possibly working out of the Burlington Ontario area, back during the late percussion era.
Anyhow, Epps definitely had one of Philo's guns and a couple by William. They were a couple percussion "rifled" and one shotgun - all just over the 1K mark on the pricetag. None were pristine or even excellent, but they did at least look fair and functional.
If you are really after one you may want to contact Epps if you can't find the one out your way.
There was a couple brothers and either an uncle or nephew, plus one of the son's - all Sopers that built firearms, primarily in London Ontario (then called Western Canada), with the uncle or nephew possibly working out of the Burlington Ontario area, back during the late percussion era.
Anyhow, Epps definitely had one of Philo's guns and a couple by William. They were a couple percussion "rifled" and one shotgun - all just over the 1K mark on the pricetag. None were pristine or even excellent, but they did at least look fair and functional.
If you are really after one you may want to contact Epps if you can't find the one out your way.
Interesting. I was interested in one for sale here (EE) and believe I made an offer but the guy was saying the thing was worth it's weight in gold and the deal didn't happen...I've been looking for info on these since. Are these rifles the sort that only unicorn horn should be used for a ram rod?
Yes there was a really spectacular Soper rifle in a Soper collector's display but I didn't get the impression it was for sale. Sorry but I didn't note the owner's contact information. The display won an award so possibly one of the AAACCA contact's could help you.
Sorry, AAACCA?
Alberta Arms and Cartridge Collectors Association 
Soper rifles/shotguns do show up here and there - Philo had a shop/company and they did crank out a good number of rifles over the years and many survived.
Most that I have seen are percussion, snail breeched, half-stocked, target rifles. He tended to use a single barrel key with a shorter fore-stock (more typical of what you have seen in New York/Connecticut as opposed to the longer style in the Western US at the time), a Dimick style trigger guard and the (barber pole) striping on the ramrods. I have seen at least a half dozen of these with pricetags in the 1000-1500 buck range which I consider "fair" for a usable firearm from that period. If it was one from a famous American maker you could easily add a zero to the price, but there just isn't the same market for a Canadian builder.
Soper rifles/shotguns do show up here and there - Philo had a shop/company and they did crank out a good number of rifles over the years and many survived.
Most that I have seen are percussion, snail breeched, half-stocked, target rifles. He tended to use a single barrel key with a shorter fore-stock (more typical of what you have seen in New York/Connecticut as opposed to the longer style in the Western US at the time), a Dimick style trigger guard and the (barber pole) striping on the ramrods. I have seen at least a half dozen of these with pricetags in the 1000-1500 buck range which I consider "fair" for a usable firearm from that period. If it was one from a famous American maker you could easily add a zero to the price, but there just isn't the same market for a Canadian builder.
Alberta Antique Arms and Cartridge Collector's Association
