The Edward Marshall Rifle from the collection of the Mercer Museum and Fonthill Castle, photograph by  Kenneth Orr, KRF.

The Heritage Center is pleased to collaborate with the Kentucky Rifle Foundation to bring together twenty early Longrifles for your viewing and educational pleasure.

A Southeastern Pennsylvania Longrifle Exhibition – The Early Years

July 18–October 18, 2026

A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see an extraordinary, assembled collection of early southeastern Pennsylvania Longrifles, this exhibit is organized in conjunction with The Kentucky Rifle Foundation and guest curator Harry Nowak, with partial support from the Institute of Museum & Library Services (IMLS).

This collection of southeastern Pennsylvania Longrifles will collectively help build our knowledge across the German and immigrant cultures of Bethlehem, Reading, and Lancaster by showcasing regional design influences. Many of the Longrifles from private collections have never been displayed, including three newly discovered and unrecorded early rifles.

Longrifle Symposium

August 22, 2026, 9:30am–4:00pm

In collaboration with the Kentucky Rifle Foundation, the Heritage Center will host a symposium with four expert speakers on topics relating to 18th century Pennsylvania German Longrifles. The symposium, which includes lunch, is free of charge thanks to the partial support from the Institute of Museum & Library Services (IMLS). Registration required.

  • The Caspar Wistar Papers & More - Harry Nowak, guest curator,  Evolution of the Long Rifle—the Early Years

    Mr. Nowak will consider questions about why this type of rifle proliferated in  Pennsylvania, a proprietary colony. Who were the rifle customers? Why did early Pennsylvania immigrant cultures demand rifles?

  • German Immigrant Culture of Southeast Pennsylvania - Scott Paul Gordon, historian of early Pennsylvania Moravian communities

    Dr. Gordon will discuss Moravian communal and non-communal production.

  • The Use of Baroque and Rococo Art on Early Rifles: Identifying the Regional Aspects - Tim Hodges, Director of the Kentucky Rifle Foundation

  • Southeastern Pennsylvania Powder Horns—The Early Years - Art DeCamp, collector and author of Pennsylvania "Horns of the Trade" Screw-tip Powder Horns and their Architecture

    Mr. DeCamp will share regional techniques, design, and decorative styles of this functional companion of the Longrifle.

Technical Workshop: Measuring and Recreating the Wm. Antes Swivel Rifle

Sunday, August 23,1:30–3:30pm

This workshop focuses on the process of building and documenting early Kentucky rifles by studying the recreation of the William Antes swivel breech rifle owned by the Kansas State Museum of History. Dr. William Paton of the Kentucky Rifle Association, and Randy Steffy, master craftsman, will describe their collaboration in making the bench—or handmade—copy. (The bench copy along with another William Antes rifle will be on exhibit during the program.) This is a must-attend for early Longrifle and local Antes family enthusiasts.  Seating is limited for this program. Free admission with reservation