Who made the Pennsylvania long rifle?

Answer 1

While Adam Haymaker (circa 1750) certainly was a noted gunmaker, he certainly was NOT the first to make the Pennsylvania longrifle. Tax records from Lancaster County Pa. clearly indicate that the German immigrant gunmakers that arrived in Philadelphia as early as the 1620's, were producing longrifles in three major areas of southeast Pa. in the late 1600's. There were the Lehigh Valley gunmakers, the Reading-Womelsdorf gunmakers, and the Lancaster county gunmakers. The Martin Meylin gunshop still stands today on Willow Street. A Martin Meylin gun was found dated 1704. This information can be found in the books of Shumway, and from Millersville University.Some historians have written that the role of Martin Meylin as one of the earliest gunsmiths in Lancaster is not clear. The argument is that the will of Martin Meylin, Sr. makes no mention of gunsmith items while the will of Martin Meylin, Jr. is replete with gunsmith items, and thus the reference to Meylin as a gunsmith is more properly placed on the son. Robert Baker invented the Pennsylvania long rifle not Meylin.