Barn gun

[Pete G]

Just build one yourself. The hard parts such as buttplate and rear thimble are not used so the assembly is relatively simple. If it comes out a little rough, so much the better.

 

[tenngun]

Doing that I would say you could have a story for your gun.
Most eighteenth century west Europe and American guns were long, but you could have a short barrel if that was your choice as you had to ‘cut off a bent barrel’. Many good English locks were sent to America, so you could have a pretty good lock, but you might have got a cast off old lock like a musket or large fowlerlock.
You could use a plain off wood, that’s not normal on a gun.... but it would be easier to get a ‘normal’stock, walnut, cherry or plain maple.
Should you feel froggy and want to cut your own channels you could use black locust, elm, Apple, ash or such.
No buttplate, no toe, simple washer side plate and just one bolt, two ramrod thimbles, no nose cap, single trigger just simple U trigger gaurd.
Some early guns had a wood screw on the tang. That wasn’t much done by eighteenth century, but a cobbled together cheap piece, maybe??
Is this a fantasy piece? Maybe, but buggered up guns were known.
A photo from the battle of Gettysburg showed a civilian that went out to fight with a 1812 US musket that had been made in to a half stick with soldered on ramrod pipes.

 

[Eterry]

I’ve mentioned this before, but I wonder how many plain old guns got sent to metal drives during the world wars and were just scavenges for metal and wood.

My dad said during WW2 there was a "drive" every weekend. He hitched his pet dog to a small wagon and hauled scrap iron, rubber, grease, cloth, you name it for the war effort.

Mike Venturino wrote during the depression they used the steel from old guns (lots of old Winchester's) for support to pour sidewalks for a gun shop in Montana. Henry rifles were broken down and the frames sold for scrap brass and the barrels for concrete. Wonder how many were J & S Hawken, Wesson, or Remington muzzle loader barrels?

 

[burlesontom]

Maybe check out these guns. Sorta pricey though.

https://www.claysmithguns.com/barn_gun.htm

I like the Southern Poorboy rifle. They used to offer these with no buttplate. A really basic rifle.

https://www.tvmnatchez.com/southern-rifle

 

[hanshi]

The term "barn gun" never quite set well for me. I'd never even heard the name until a few years ago. Working gun, poorboy, hunting gun, any of these mean far more to me than "barn gun, schimmel or something else. There are quite a few builders out there who can build you a nice, very plain gun (I have two). As long as you know and can carefully describe what you wan't, you can get it.

 

[Kansas Jake]

I agree with Hanshi. Barn gun, to me, connotes condition more than style of gun.

 

[Mad Professor]

Springfield 1861 with the barrel and stock cut down.

 

[cephus]

I am after a work horse for hunting. I called it a barn gun because that seems to be the popular name now. I am looking for a poor boy style 62 smooth bore (all around hunting gun).

Andy

 

[rich pierce]

Well well, a smoothbore is another story. You want flint or percussion, halfstock or fullstock, a gun representing an historic real gun or something made up? A trade gun would probably fit your bill.

 

[cephus]

Cap lock preferably. And I don't care half or full stock. This will be my full time, anytimeh gun.

Andy

 

[rich pierce]

Consider buying an original caplock single barrel shotgun in good shape for $300.

 

[cephus]

I would love to find one at that price.

Andy

 

[Grenadier1758]

Does any one make a basic, historically accurate barn gun? Just a no frills basic hunting gun.

Andy

Yes, Clay Smith offers a barn gun in his catalog of rifles.
https://www.claysmithguns.com/barn_gun.htm

 

[Loyalist Dave]

This begs the question....what defines a gun as a barn gun.

I should think that the definition or the use of the term "barn gun" would place the piece near to the ACW if not after it.

I can tell you what qualified for a barn gun in my family, a Remington rimfire rifle kept there to shoot rats. It wasn't well maintained, but it kept shooting and my dad has it today, although it's almost 140 years old now and the rifling is gone. Probably was used for 60 years as the barn gun. I mention it to illustrate the point. IF you're keeping it in the barn it isn't a costly gun, and because of the cost of obtaining and caring for such a gun in the flintlock or caplock eras (prior to industrialization), I'd say the term is ill used for a hand built gun. IF not incorrectly used, I'd say it would be a cheaply made .32 or .36 caplock, or a really small bore, smoothbore caplock perhaps in .40 -.45 and using shot..., but again I don't think "barn gun" is what we're talking about prior to the ACW.

Schimmel is a term that is mentioned in The Art of Building the Pennsylvania Longrifle . In old German in meant "plain", though today it means "moldy". Except for the presence of a trigger guard, my "PA Mountain Rifle" might pass as such. It has no butt plate nor toe plate, no nose cap, no side plate, a trigger guard and only two thimbles, plus a plain wooden rammer. It was made by Cabin Creek. http://cabincreek.net/revspecs/pennsylvania-mountain-rifle/ According to the book, the Schimmel was made without a trigger guard, and the buyer would have one put on or fashion one themselves, after purchase.

So if a Schimmel is what one is after, I'd say a very plain cherry stock, medium to darkly stained, no carving, a good lock and a single trigger, with and good barrel in .45 or smaller, with two brass ramrod thimbles made from bending sheet brass around a wooden dowel, plus the simplest of trigger guards (also perhaps from bent brass) would be the answer. Lowest possible parts costs and simplest construction.

(Why the caliber choice? Least expensive to shoot as well as to buy...of course if you're going for deer you need to comply with modern laws. They might've gone after deer with a .38 or even a .36. Most of us can't do that.)

LD