Curly Gostomski .62 Fowler Value

[BigSkyRambler]

Looking to take a .62 fowler made by Curly Gostomski in trade. I do not need it, so will sell it. Any idea of value? It seems in VG condition and I believe Mr. Gostomski is no longer with us.

 

[poker]

Looks very nice. Value and price realized aren’t always the same though.

 

[rich pierce]

If you find a buyer with some nostalgia maybe $600 tops. For someone looking for a used flint fowler $459 is what I’d ask.

 

[Eric Krewson]

I have one of the same, yours has a much better lock on it than mine, the frizzen on my lock won't close completely on the pan and leaks prime, it is constructed in a way that it would be a major job bending the foot and redrilling it to get the pan closed. I think mine is from a Gustomsky kit. It also has a tight spot in the barrel about halfway down.

 

[Skychief]

Big Sky', I've always thought I'd like to own a gun made by Curly. May I ask, how do you know it is one of his guns? Please don't think I'm making an argument that it is not.

Thanks, Skychief.

 

[plmeek]

I don't have anything to add to the dollar amounts that others have provided.

I am surprised that no one has fully identified the gun for you, though. It's not just a fowler but a Northwest trade gun.

As far as I know, Curly Gostomski did not put any identifying marks on his guns. He may have made this one. I think some of his early guns might have used the imported Lott lock, but by the late 70s he was using his own lock on his NW trade guns.

This a picture of one of Gostomski's locks from the early 1980s.

I notice the trigger on your gun is different from the one in the picture above. Your trigger looks like one that Track of the Wolf used with their NW trade gun kits of the 1980s, which also used the Lott lock and North Star Enterprises' barrel with the "Fox-in-Circle" mark on the breech. Your gun could be one of Gostomski's early guns before he was making his own parts or it could be one someone assembled from a TOTW kit in the 80s. I'm not sure either possibility would affect its value.

More important to value is the condition of the gun. I notice a piece of wood is missing from the lock panel in front of the lock bolster. The frizzen spring screw looks like a replacement. When you offer the gun for sale, you should note all the dents, dings, scratches, cracks, and missing wood as well as replacement parts and the condition of the bore to prospective buyers. In addition, you can point out the positives such as the possibility of being a Gostomski made NW trade gun, that the lock functions and sparks well (if it does), and the authentic architecture such as the thin wrist, which is a characteristic that the Indians demanded.

 

[spudnut]

If you find a buyer with some nostalgia maybe $600 tops. For someone looking for a used flint fowler $459 is what I’d ask.

495!!! Let me get my wallet!

 

[Eric Krewson]

My gun is identical to the pictures shown above. lock and all.

 

[plmeek]

Eric, I agree that your lock is just like the one I posted above. That scan is from The Book of Buckskinning III and a piece on Curly.

Have you taken the lock out of the stock and looked for any marks on the inside of the lock plate? Maybe even partially hidden by the tumbler?

On another forum, they are discussing a NW trade gun with a small mark on the inside of the lock plate that some are saying is Curly's mark. It looks like it could simply be an imperfection in the wax positive that was duplicated in the casting. It's not as clear and distinct as I would expect for a stamp or mark on the master. The external of the lock they are discussing doesn't look like the picture I posted or your lock, either.

You are the only person I know with the right lock and would be curious if Curly marked them.

 

[dave61965]

Eric, I agree that your lock is just like the one I posted above. That scan is from The Book of Buckskinning III and a piece on Curly.

Have you taken the lock out of the stock and looked for any marks on the inside of the lock plate? Maybe even partially hidden by the tumbler?

On another forum, they are discussing a NW trade gun with a small mark on the inside of the lock plate that some are saying is Curly's mark. It looks like it could simply be an imperfection in the wax positive that was duplicated in the casting. It's not as clear and distinct as I would expect for a stamp or mark on the master. The external of the lock they are discussing doesn't look like the picture I posted or your lock, either.

You are the only person I know with the right lock and would be curious if Curly marked them.

Here’s the lock from the other side.

 

[Eric Krewson]

I shot mine today with a skychief load and was amazed. When I cleaned the gun I noticed a crude diamond mark partially hidden by mainspring on the tumbler end, it looks like it was done freehand with a pointed punch and is barely visible. It was somewhat like the mark above.

I didn't pay much attention to it and will give it a better look with my optivisors tomorrow.

 

[plmeek]

Thanks dave61965 for linking the pics of the other lock. Note the frizzen spring is different. The cock spur is a little different at the top where it curls forward. The tail of the two locks are slightly different in shape and the curve in the engraved border line.

The mark on the inside of the lock has an awfully rough edge. There are pits on the metal surface around the lock that may contribute to the rough edge some, but it clearly isn't a stamp mark. These are normally investment wax cast parts that faithfully copy the original item that the mold was made from. That means the original pattern that was used to make the mold would have looked much like what we see. I've seen little bumps on wax parts similar to this when the wax cooled too quickly and/or trapped some air against the surface of the mold.

If Eric's lock has a similar mark, then it will be good to know that Gostomski used a mark and what it is.

 

[dave61965]

Thanks dave61965 for linking the pics of the other lock. Note the frizzen spring is different. The cock spur is a little different at the top where it curls forward. The tail of the two locks are slightly different in shape and the curve in the engraved border line.

The mark on the inside of the lock has an awfully rough edge. There are pits on the metal surface around the lock that may contribute to the rough edge some, but it clearly isn't a stamp mark. These are normally investment wax cast parts that faithfully copy the original item that the mold was made from. That means the original pattern that was used to make the mold would have looked much like what we see. I've seen little bumps on wax parts similar to this when the wax cooled too quickly and/or trapped some air against the surface of the mold.
View attachment 19601

If Eric's lock has a similar mark, then it will be good to know that Gostomski used a mark and what it is.

That’s actually my gun so if you need anything else I’d be happy to do what I can.

 

[Keb]

I have had a few Northstar guns all having that mark inside the lock plate. The mark has been identified as Curly's mark over on ALR. It is a star as in "Northstar" which was Curly's company before being sold. It then became Northstar West. However, I don't know if they used the same stamp. Also, Curly passed away quite a few years ago.

 

[Eric Krewson]

I will get my gun out of the safe and take a look.

Yep, it's there.

 

[plmeek]

Thanks for posting that picture, Eric. The symbols are similar, but the locks aren't. dave61965's lock has a detachable pan, along with the other small differences I noted above, while Eric's lock does not. That implies that Gostomski developed two different NW trade gun locks for his business. Maybe he was continually trying to improve the authenticity of his guns.

The symbol doesn't look much like a "star" to me. More like a diamond shape. It kinda reminds me of the Masonic symbol. Be nice to see a better picture of it, but I can understand if you don't want to remove the mainspring just to satisfy my curiosity.

 

[Rudyard]

The gun in question is or certainly appears to be an earlier North Star Enterprizes trade gun using the Lott lock until his supplier put the price up on him so he being a jigs tools & fixtures man made his own locks . I have seen rifles he made . I believe most all of these guns not supplied as kits where farmed out to stockers who got them up to the' In the white state ' I was one of them & made 4 common guns a week but could only make two Chiefs guns a week they being more involved . We fell out as he expected to pay the same price .He is long dead . I never saw separate pans He also made set triggers . spring cramps, nipple keys And barrels 12 20 & 24 bore all 1" oct to round . About that time there was a gentleman in Seatle area made a Trade gun Frank Strieght but the circle Fox mark was what Curly copied . The finnish of these 'in the whites 'would vary according to the caprice of who ever stocked them up .Incidentaly the NS scear it just right to replace the older Silers one as it gives the better throw to the cock . Rudyard

 

[Eric Krewson]

A dying friend gave the trade gun. The lock was poorly made, the square shaft on the tumbler was cut to deeply, if one tightened the screw the cock it would bind tightly on the lock plate and not function. The frizzen doesn't come close to sealing the pan, the screw is drilled in the wrong place and the front side is cocked up about 1/16", it can't go any lower because of where the screw hole is drilled.

I wasn't a gun builder when I got the gun, I fixed the cock issue by filing off the back side of the cock to make it thinner and keep it off the lock plate, if I was doing the fix today I would simple shim it out a little. The lock isn't a great one but it does throw nice shower of sparks.

 

[Golfswithwolves]

I venture that if the lock is not a great one but it throws a nice shower of sparks, then it is a great lock!

 

[toot]

I also have on of his early trade guns in 12 gauge and have been told that he made fewer then 10 in that gauge and most of them were 20 gauge. so I was told. buy the gun not the story. as for the locks that he used the ones marked LOTT, were made in ITALY and imported buy him and none of them ever sparked well at all. then he went to the circle fox marked as such.