KRA Bulletin | VOLUME 41 | NUMBER 2 | WINTER 2015

The Winter 2015 issue of the Kentucky Rifle Association Bulletin presents an in depth, interpretive study of a highly symbolic Jacob Kuntz pistol, examining its materials, construction, engraving, and layered iconography. The primary article analyzes five intentional signatures placed by Kuntz across wood, steel, and brass, incorporating Masonic, religious, and political symbolism reflective of early American identity.

The Bulletin places Kuntz’s work within the broader context of Pennsylvania gunmaking traditions, Freemasonry, Federal era ideology, and transatlantic cultural exchange. Through close visual analysis and historical interpretation, the research demonstrates how firearms can serve as complex documents of belief, identity, and artistic intent beyond their functional purpose.

Usage Note: This Bulletin is provided for the private research and educational use of Kentucky Rifle Association members. Redistribution or reproduction without written permission is prohibited.

KRA Bulletin | VOLUME 40 | NUMBER 3 | SPRING 2014

Rooted in the complex history of the Cumberland frontier, this Spring 2014 Bulletin examines the riflemen and gunmakers whose lives were shaped by a region long treated as a peripheral borderland. Central to the study is the work of gunsmith Jacob Young, explored through rifles made for prominent figures such as William Waid Woodfork, William Whitley, and Gasper Mansker.

Drawing from close analysis of surviving rifles, powder horns, engraved ornamentation, and period documentation, the Bulletin situates Cumberland gunmaking within its broader cultural, geographic, and political context during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. In doing so, the research challenges rigid regional classifications and presents the Cumberland as a distinct frontier world whose makers and riflemen played an essential role in the evolution of the American longrifle.

Usage Note: This Bulletin is provided for the private research and educational use of Kentucky Rifle Association members. Redistribution or reproduction without written permission is prohibited.