It’s been more than a century since his great-great-grandfather worked the forge and other tools used to create them. But despite the passage of time, whenever Phill Bettis holds a Bettis rifle in his hands, he feels a special connection to his ancestor. “It is an awesome experience,” Bettis told a group of about 50 members of the Camp 1642 Sons of the Confederate Veterans group, when asked what it’s like to hold one of rifles and know a family member had made it.“You wonder what his dreams were, what he wanted to see and how did the [Civil War] change that, and what hopes did he have.”