From Schuetzen to Squirrel Rifle, Balthasar Auer’s Kentucky Journey ©
Forword: Louisville had many fine gunsmiths, but the one best known for fine target rifles was Balthasar Auer. He was born in 1825 and trained as a gunsmith in Switzerland. In the late 1850s Auer moved to America, and by/before 1859 he was in Louisville, Kentucky, making fine Schuetzen rifles for wealthy target shooters. A picture of Balthasar Auer, perhaps from his Louisville years, is shown in Figure No.1. While in Louisville, Auer’s guns began to slowly evolve toward American styling. His Schuetzens became less elaborate with simpler butt plates and guards. By 1869 when Auer moved down river to Owensboro in Daviess County, his guns had lost many of their Schuetzen details, and by the 1870s his guns had become well-made, small-bored squirrel rifles. Figure No.2 is a photograph of Auer’s Owensboro gun shop, with Auer and one of his employees standing by the front door.
Figure No.1: Balthasar Auer is dressed in his hunting outfit with his bird dog at his knee, shotgun under his arm, and a Swiss open-mesh game bag over one shoulder and powder flask over the other. His dark beard suggests he was young and perhaps in a Louisville studio. Photo courtesy G. Schuyler.
Figure No.2: This is Auer’s gun shop in Owensboro, Kentucky. The small sign high and to the left of the door reads “B. AUER” in large letters. Auer is the taller man with an apron on the right, and a shop employee is holding a new rifle by the muzzle in his left hand [viewer’s right]. Photo courtesy G. Schuyler.
Kentucky Years: Little is known about Auer’s early years or his arrival in Louisville. But by 1865 Auer had a gun shop on East Market Street and was making Schuetzen-style target rifles that showed his Swiss training; one of Auer’s rifles is shown in Figures No.3a and No.3b. He used elaborate Schuetzen butt plates and guards, horn nose caps, Swiss-influenced lock bolt washers, and strap attachments for off-hand shooting. Auer’s stock wood preference was walnut with feather-grained patterns in the butt. Over time, Auer’s Louisville rifles lost some of their more elaborate Schuetzen details with his trigger guards and butt plates becoming less ornate.
Figure No.3a: This Louisville Schuetzen-style rifle is marked “B. Auer Louisville Ky.” The rifle has a Schuetzen butt plate with extended lower “hook” and an “acorn” button in the heel. The guard retains Schuetzen-style finger rests, and a horn nose cap terminates the short forestock. Kentucky details beginning to show in Auer’s work include the tight side facing around the lock and small “saw handle” grip at the back of the tang, perhaps influenced by better-known Mercer County gunsmith Benjamin Mill’s fine target rifles. The peep sights are original, but the adjustable open rear sight may be a later addition. Highly figured walnut is visible in the butt stock. Author’s collection, photo by J. Jaeger.
Figure No.3b: The back of Auer’s Louisville Schuetzen rifle has Swiss-influenced lock bolt washers and attachments for a shoulder strap for off-hand shooting. The tubular rear peep sight was made by Auer and used on other Schuetzen-style target rifles he made. Author’s collection, photo by J. Jaeger.
In Auer’s later years at Louisville, his rifles began to use conventional cast pewter nose caps and simpler peep sights [combined with open sights], stocks became a little slimmer, at times stock wood was less figured, and rifles weighed less. He also checkered the wrists of his rifles more frequently during this period. A good example of a later Louisville rifle is shown in Figure No.3. The rifle has a later style pewter nose cap and its original palm rest, which is rare because most of Auer’s known rifles have lost their palm rests.
Figure No.4: This Louisville rifle by Auer retains Schuetzen features in its guard, butt plate, and palm rest, but it is evolving away from a Schuetzen and beginning to incorporate more Kentucky features. The rifle now has a cast pewter nose cap, simpler open rear sight, simpler inlays at the forestock wedge position, less figured wood in the butt stock, and slightly slimmer stocking than earlier rifles. However, the rifle retains Auer’s tube-shaped rear peep sight and hooded from sight. Photo courtesy G. Schuyler [a direct descendant of Auer].
A sign of the changing times for Auer during his last years in Louisville 1865-1869 can be seen in his “Deringer” style pistols. They show a complete separation from his Swiss training and full acceptance of American style pistols. Auer’s pistols were well-made, stocked in the traditional walnut with checkered grips, and stamped with his name on the barrel or patent breech. A Louisville derringer by Balthasar Auer is shown in Figures No.5a and 5b.
Figure No.5a: Auer made derringer-style pistols in Louisville in the 1865-1869 period. This example is well-made, neatly checkered, and has a forestock “chin” below the muzzle, often associated with southern derringer-style pistols. Courtesy Cowan’s Auctions, Cincinnati, OH.
Figure No.5b: Auer signed his small derringer-style pistols “B. Auer / Louisville, KY” similar to his rifles, and at times he stamped his lock plates. The barrel originally had a darker finish that has worn off from handling and cleaning. Courtesy Cowan’s Auctions, Cincinnati, OH.
In late 1869 Auer left Louisville and moved down river to Owensboro in Daviess County, where he opened a gun shop shown in Figure No.2. His reason for moving is unknown, but it may have been due to the large number of gunsmiths working in Louisville and a weakening demand for Schuetzen-style rifles. An Auer rifle from his early days in Owensboro is shown in Figure No.6. It retains traces of Auer’s Swiss training but has evolved into a small-bore Kentucky hunting rifle. Auer’s earlier Louisville guns were stamped “B. L. Auer / Louisville Ky.” but this rifle is simply stamped “Auer” on the extended base of the rear sight, perhaps indicating he took less professional pride in making the simpler hunting rifles.
Figure No.6a: Auer made this rifle after arriving in Owensboro in 1869. It has commercial triggers, lock, and guard with a cast nose cap. Stocking is typical for a later, half-stocked Kentucky hunting rifle. But the gun retains a modified Schuetzen-style butt plate with its lower “hook” extension truncated, while the small, screw-out “acorn” button in the butt plate’s heel remains. Courtesy Ancestry Guns, photo by B. Sherrard.
Figure No.6b: The back side of the Owensboro rifle shows Auer’s acceptance of a conventional stock shape with traditional cheekpiece and hunter’s star. However, his lock bolt washer, wedge inlay, and cheek star show an artistic flair, adding a touch of class to his hunting rifle. Courtesy Ancestry Guns, photo by B. Sherrard.
The last Auer rifle is a documented Owensboro gun and appears in Figure No.7. The rifle shows Auer’s final style with commercial mountings and all traces of his earlier Schuetzen days gone, except for two minor details: 1) stock wood has burled walnut grain in the butt stock, and 2) the lock bolt is positioned a little lower than on most American rifles. The rifle is marked “B L A” on the lock plate, and more importantly, “B. L. AUER. OWENS” on the barrel, documenting it as an Owensboro rifle. Auer had finally joined the ranks of Kentucky gunsmiths making Kentucky-style squirrel rifles.
Figure No.7a: Auer’s Owensboro guns evolved to this final “hunting rifle” style, often referred to as a “squirrel rifle” due to its small caliber bore. All traces of Auer’s earlier Louisville Schuetzen-style rifles are gone in this 1870s hunting rifle. The barrel is longer than barrels on Aure’s earlier rifles, forestock wedge inlays are simpler, and butt architecture has Kentucky’s triangular shape. Barrel: 41-3/4 inches, .33 caliber, 7-groove rifling, 7/8 inch across flats. Author’s collection, photo by J. Jaeger.
Figure No.7b: The back of Auer’s Owensboro rifle looks like a late Kentucky half-stocked rifle with its oval cheekpiece, late style guard, crescent butt plate with extended heel, and lack of decoration. Its patent breech is visible here, along with a lower positioned lock bolt washer.
Figure No.7c: The barrel signature on Auer’s late Owensboro rifle is its most important detail. His name appears hand-engraved rather than stamped, but the smaller “OWENS” after his name appears stamped. The extended signature documents the gun as an Owensboro product.
Summary: Balthasar Auer provides a good example of the highly trained European gunsmiths who came to the United States in the mid-1800s to find work opportunities and a better way of life. He became Louisville’s premier target rifle maker, with his Swiss-influenced Schuetzen rifles, and built a reputation for quality and accuracy that spread well beyond Louisville. But over time, his work became “Americanized” as his rifles moved away from the older Schuetzen style to embrace the simpler and lower cost Kentucky hunting rifle style. His career was not unique in America, since many European gunsmiths who emigrated to America went through a similar transition. But Auer was special because his work was highly regarded beyond Louisville and Kentucky, and he left a trail of signed guns, family information, and photographs that allow us to better understand the transitions many early European craftsmen went through to help unite and build the United States into a great nation