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Museum to research Washington's rifle

LOUISVILLE, Ky., Jan. 3 (UPI) -- The Frazier Historical Arms Museum in Louisville, Ky., is taking George Washington's flintlock off display so researchers can learn more about the rifle.

The .44 caliber flintlock has become one the museum's most popular exhibits since going on display Nov. 28 after being purchased from a private collector.

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There's no question the 214-year-old rifle once belonged to George Washington. Museum officials told the Louisville Courier Journal that the flintlock rifle likely was a gift to the nation's first president at his Mount Vernon estate in Virginia in 1791.

Chief curator Walter Karcheski will visit Mount Vernon, Va., the American Antiquarian Society in Massachusetts, the National Archives and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington to learn more about the rifle.

The rare artifact, now owned by Louisville businessman Owsley Brown Frazier, will be on display at the Frazier museum until Jan. 9.

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