Caywood's rifles..your thought's

[montanadan]

I am asking for a friend of mine(no computer),english fowler 20 gauge,with 50 rifled drop in barrel.His thinking is that he could shoot the smooth bore matches,as well as the flintlock(with the 50 rifled barrel).Trying to get the best both world's with one rifle,and maybe save some money?This would be complete package finished by Caywood..Your thoughts please(he does not have the time to build)..Respectfully Montanadan

 

[tnlonghunter]

I've never actually seen or shot one, but one of my neighbors back in TN is a gunbuilder and is a personal friend of Caywood (my neighbor is Steve Davis, if anyone is familiar with his guns). Steve tells me that they are some of best production guns on the market if you don't want a one-of-a-kind-custom-built-from-scratch-hand-made-super-expensive gun. He recommended them to me slightly higher than Chambers in overall quality, though Steve said Chambers locks were still the best he'd ever used. So, my guess is your friend would be quite happy with a Caywood gun.

 

[stewarttls]

I have a .45 cal. Southern Mountain rifle from Danny Caywood that I picked up from him last spring. I think the craftsmanship on it is excellent. If I were in the market to buy another muzzleloader from a builder (doing my own now from kits) I would definitely give Caywood a call. I drove to his shop and Danny gave me a good tour of his shop from start to finish. I highly reccommend him-Mike Rowe's locks are also excellent.
Tommy from Northeast Texas

 

[amccall]

I have seen one of them at the Log Cabin. Nice gun, well balanced. Did not get to shoot one though. It was around $1600 for the combo, for the quality I thought that it was a fair deal. I bought a Center mark 20 gauge new for $800 and I thought that the caywood was a tad better in looks. :v

 

[Swampman]

"my neighbor is Steve Davis"

That's a nice piece of luck. He's one of the best. I'd love to have a 1760s era rifle built by Steve.

 

[charcloth]

Hey Montanadan,

I think there's one listed for sale right now on[url] historicaltrekking.com[/url]. Check it out for your buddy, might save him a few bucks and get it in his hands faster.

Charcloth.

 

[mark starr]

I bought a Caywood chiefs trade gun 28 guage smoothbore. And a 54 cal rifled barrel.to go with
I,ve only had the rifled barrel on once.The smoothbore seems to suit all my needs. I killed
a nice 3 point muley this fall. And did well
grouse hunting also.I am going trade the other barrel to a gun building freind of mine. The Caywood gun itself ,I would not trade it I think
it will be the last i'll own untill its worn out.
I think If you want a smoothbore buy a smoothbore. And if you want a rifle buy a rifle.
caywood either way is a good choice. :thumbsup:

 

[bigbang1]

I bought a caywood trade gun 62 cal last year and love the way it feels and shoots. It was my first smoothbore and after only 3 or 4 shots to figure out the sight picture {without a rear sight} it shot as well as my custom rifles. I liked it so well that I had Danny build me an English game gun rifled 62cal with a 12 guage interchangable barrel for turkey hunting. Great guns and real good people to deal with. :thumbsup:

 

[tnlonghunter]

Yeah, his work's pretty amazing. Too rich for my blood at the time being, but something to wish for. He's kind enough to provide advice while I work on my York rifle too. Good guy.

 

[montanadan]

thanks for all the replies,I will check the one for sale..Thanks again Montanadan

 

[CoyoteJoe]

Dan, a friend of mine has the same "switch-barrel" setup you describe. He had a lot of problems with ignition and asked me to install a "white Lightnin" vent liner in place of Kaywood's "outside cone" in the barrel. He says that is a great improvement. He also has never gotten decent accuracy from the rifle barrel but that may have more to do with the sights than the barrel itself. The sights are shiny brass, both front and rear, and very low to the barrel which makes for a lot of mirage and heat shimmer.

 

[Java Man]

I recently picked up a TVM Fowler with a hex wrench touch hole. So it should act very similar to the Caywood TH's. The one day I shot it, ignition was very fast. That was 2F for a main charge and 4f in the pan. Large Siler lock.

Gonna try to shoot it some more tomorrow.

Java Man

 

[CoyoteJoe]

I recently picked up a TVM Fowler with a hex wrench touch hole. So it should act very similar to the Caywood TH's.
Java Man

Caywood's outside cone is a very long, deep taper, not at all like any vent liner. A lot of people seem well satisfied but my one exposure to that design was not favorable.

 

[The Baron]

I have no experience with the rifled/switch barrel sets, but I bought a used Caywood .62 Type "C" fusil last spring and I have never regretted it. The fit and finsish are great and it is wonderfully balanced so it's a pleasure to carry and shoot. This is my first flintlock so I am no expert, but it does seem hard on flints (only 5-20 shots/flint with Tom Fuller flints from TOTW), compared to what I have learned here so far. I've tried bevel up/bevel down, shimmed different angles, etc. but can't do much better for flint life.

My gun came with a vent liner installed. I don't know if it was installed out of necessity or just preference. Ignition is plenty fast with everything I've tried (2F, 3F and 4F).

 

[jkingrph]

Tommy,, See you have a Caywood, I finally got a 36cal Southern Mountain Rifle last fall. By your post I see you are in E Texas. I am in Jacksonville, E mail me at [email protected], maybe we can get together and shoot a bit sometimes.

Jeff King

 

[ffffg]

the 50 cal rifle will be quite a bit heavier than the 20 gauge... i personally would figure out a way to rectify that.. im not saying one is wrong or one is right.. but if it was me id like one and not the other. some like light guns, some like medium weight guns some like heavy.. heavy shoot better, especailly off hand if they can be held steady... light guns carry easier. medium is medium.. i personally would tell him to go to some shoots, shoot several guns and buy one like he feels is best for him.. or at least get a comitment to the weight of the guns within a tolerence of course..and feel carry and point one of that weight.. for a 50 cal 9 pounds would be quite heavy, 6 1/2 pounds would be light.. 7-7 3/4 pounds would be a good compromise. my opinion only..dave

 

[lacerote]

only problem with Caywood is they got scared by some lawyer into making all of their ramrods way to thick robbing the gun of better lines it could have if it was slimmer and also making the locks have a very heavy pull, which is easier to fix .

 

[paulvallandigham]

I know blaming a lawyer for problems is the national passtime, but come on. A thicker ramrod is not going to protect a manufacturer from a products liability law suit. If he is selling wooden rods, then making sure that there is no run-out in the grain is how to protect the company from a lawsuit when someone is hurt. Putting clear instructions in the gun case on how to use the hand over hand technique with loading with a ramrod is the way to kill those suits. As to the heavy lock springs, Shame on any manufacturer who would do that for some false sense of security. Again, include literature that tells the consumer that the gun is designed to shoot with springs set at certain ranges, and insist that the shooter get instruction from knowledgeable shooters of black powder firearms before attempting to use the firearm. Put a list of safety rules. Juries are made of humans, and most of us are tired of people blaming manufacturers for their own stupidity, and arrogance. Juries like manufacturers who sell equipment with good instructions and disclaimers. Better than that, you can find plenty of safety experts to testify that the product, used correctly, is safe. and, when you provide a well written safety manual with the product, and step by step guide to using the gun, the experts will back you up.

 

[paulvallandigham]

I know blaming a lawyer for problems is the national passtime, but come on. A thicker ramrod is not going to protect a manufacturer from a products liability law suit. If he is selling wooden rods, then making sure that there is no run-out in the grain is how to protect the company from a lawsuit when someone is hurt. Putting clear instructions in the gun case on how to use the hand over hand technique with loading with a ramrod is the way to kill those suits. As to the heavy lock springs, Shame on any manufacturer who would do that for some false sense of security. Again, include literature that tells the consumer that the gun is designed to shoot with springs set at certain ranges, and insist that the shooter get instruction from knowledgeable shooters of black powder firearms before attempting to use the firearm. Put a list of safety rules. Juries are made of humans, and most of us are tired of people blaming manufacturers for their own stupidity, and arrogance. Juries like manufacturers who sell equipment with good instructions and disclaimers. Better than that, you can find plenty of safety experts to testify that the product, used correctly, is safe. and, when you provide a well written safety manual with the product, and step by step guide to using the gun, the experts will back you up.