The rifles often used a patchbox of modified floral design held with six or seven screws. The barrel was pinned to the stock with three or four pins, depending on its length, and the pins were set through brass or silver inlays.

The cheek piece usually featured some inletting on this type rifle and almost all of the inlays included a certain amount of engraving. Relief carving in a vine pattern that seems to cover and wind around the stock seems typical of rifles from this region. The butt seems to angle down from the wrist in a gradual slope. The wood used for Bedford County rifle stocks was always of the finest quality obtainable and carving and inlays highlighted the luster of the wood grain.

Some of the men who carried these rifles ranged through the Appalachian Mountains to open and settle new lands. The Bedford Rifle played an important part in the heritage of the families who settled this area. Hanging over a fireplace, it was an object of pride, and in the hands of its owner it was an important and efficient tool for survival.