Comfortably_Numb
The Evil Mike Brooks
You don't want the guns with the Lott lock. Those locks are junk. Go with the ones with the sitting fox.
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Curlys .72 caliber north west trade gun
- Thread starter lbothell
- Start date
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I have a 12 gage, .720 caliber Trade Gun that I built from a kit that I purchased from Curly. I have made two of his 12 gage kits.
NSW stands for North Star West. I remember when Curly came back from Australia. He had a kangaroo hide with him, and had all us trappers scratching our heads trying to figure out what it was.
Blind Dog
36 Cl.
I once owned a 12 Bore NWTG made with Curley's parts. I was built by a rather well-known Gunsmith from Washington state. Beautiful firearm. It beat the living hell out of me. I parted with it a few years past, but it is one of those I wish I'd hung onto.
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Hi, Toot! Yes, I have sitting foxes, a marking I really like, and my barrel is between 41 & 42 inches. It is a 72 cal., and the wood and everything looks just like Curly-photos I've seen. I have not the ability to post photos, I'm an older computer-un-savvy guy! Again, it just seems to want a .690 ball w/ 15th patch. Only weighs 6-1/2 lbs.! Nicely fitted brass butt plate and tasteful tack placement.
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Yep, I got the Fox on both as you've helpfully stated.
sounds like you have got one of them! does it have LOTT on the lock, or just the sitting fox in a circle? 72 cal. bore is where it is at!
I have one of the notorious LOTT locks on my West (St. Louis) County smooth bore possibly made in the 1970's. The gun's architecture is truly bad and conforms to no school of construction known to anyone outside of St. Louis County. However, this unknown builder did know how to tune a lock and my LOTT lock is good sparking gun as long as I keep the flint sharp and properly installed in the lock. Sure, I would like to have one of Curly's locks though.
LOTT locks can be made to function well. It just takes a lot(t) of work.
LOTT locks can be made to function well. It just takes a lot(t) of work.
I managed to get to Don Getz's shop back in the early '90s, and he had a "second" 12 ga smooth barrel, 36" long. I had a stock blank, this would be perfect I thought. Built the most beautiful fowler in curly maple, I truly wish I had not traded it away. A real looker.
Friends would ask to shoot it. NOBODY ever asked to shoot it a second time. That lightweight gun was a beauty to carry, but absolutely brutal to shoot. A 565 grain ball is a whole lotta lead.
I can understand why he only built ten. From a marketing standpoint, you'd not want to have people associate your name with a brutal gun, so pointing folks to the .62 was a wise decision.
you are so right! some one who knowes why so few of the beasts were made & didn't go over well. but that is why they are sought after 50 + yrs. later. we are still talking about them.
I grump about my 12 gauge West County Special, but it's not that bad to shoot, merely ugly at least with some redeeming qualities.
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Well toot before you told me to try shooting 70 grans of powder with the round ball I was shooting 90. It wasn’t as bad you would think but 70 is much better for sure and I thank you for the tip!! Definitely saves me powder for sure! What kind of load were guys putting in this thing that would be so awful they didn’t want to shoot a second shot hahah
Blind Dog
36 Cl.
My old Curley 12 didn't come alive accuracy wise until I hit 90 grains of FF GOEX. My best accuracy was with 110 grains a patched .715 round ball. at that load level it was brutal.
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Yes that would be brutal!
The first time I shot mine, I loaded it with 100 grains of FF Goex with a patched .715 ball. I had my cheek in just the right position to catch the full recoil. That will leave an impression on you in a couple of ways. I now shoot with 65 grains of FF.
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Hahah! I shot 3f out of it the first time I shot it and since then it’s always been 2f!
So you are a quick learner as well.
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Had to be quick or I would just be dumb haha
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Re the illustrious Curls .He told me all his barrels where Shaw Barrels & they came in all bores He milled the oct & added the Circle Fox if often just into the milled lines so you couldn't get that out .unlike if it was dressed smooth first it would have been free of the lines . I bought 12 bores used them for UK flint shotguns no one moaned about excessive recoiling but non shot ball either or at least officially. sporting guns should be light anyway .. When he started he used Lotts (Our old friend Lott was what Kit Ravenshear called them & they will work up I get the 'Lott '& florals filled then dressed them of & cut Crown GR Tower & the Acceptance arrow under the pan they are then about bang right size for Govt Carbines ( The one in the Lawrences Pattern now in the RA at Leeds) is a Lott copied in Cawnpore worked up just fine & used a lot in tests . I had no complaints . Curly G said he used the Lotts till Navey Arms put the price up on him So he made his own there after I did some' In the white' Chiefs, I anglesized large Silers if you have one might be one I was able to knock out 4 common in the Whites a week but could only manage two ITW Chief's as per originaly they where more involved If he couldn't see that so no more ever. Other than ones I made finnished for customers there was one 12 bore stocked in beech & blued brl I made in UK with brum proofs along with a 20 bore stocked in w nut or maple( ive had a sleep since then !) its proofed too as it had to be ,A Mr Frank Strieght from Belleview Washington put out a 'Burnett.' TG early 70 s never had dealings other than some patent ceramic' flints ' Thats about me TG ed out. Unless you want a really superior Chief's But getting it to the US is currently a hassel Rudyard
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I suspect Curly may have put out more than 10 of the 12 gauge trade guns. In one trade gun match back in the late '80s there were 8 shooters using them. (Winner used a little old 24 gauge NWG.)
I wasn't a fan because of the recoil. One day in '87 we had a grizzly wander through camp, and I reached to the rack to grab a gun. I S-E-R-I-O-U-S-L-Y considered grabbing my 24 gauge NWG, but instead grabbed my partner's 12 gauge example of Curly's finest. . . and prayed I wouldn't have to shoot it. Too many bears on that trip, I eventually swapped off my 24 gauge and carried a cut-down Bess for 20 years.
I wasn't a fan because of the recoil. One day in '87 we had a grizzly wander through camp, and I reached to the rack to grab a gun. I S-E-R-I-O-U-S-L-Y considered grabbing my 24 gauge NWG, but instead grabbed my partner's 12 gauge example of Curly's finest. . . and prayed I wouldn't have to shoot it. Too many bears on that trip, I eventually swapped off my 24 gauge and carried a cut-down Bess for 20 years.
