Curlys .72 caliber north west trade gun

[Coinneach]

No they dont' you just get cack handed bods like that Rudyard fellow .Mulga Bill from Eaglehawks got nothing on him.

Viz "I'm good all round at everything as every body knows, Although Ime not the one to talk ,- I hate a man that blows But Rideing is my special gift my cheifest sole delight , Just ask wild duck can it swim a wild cat can it fight .Thers nothing clothed in hair or hide or build of flesh or steel .there,s nothing jumps or walks or runs, on axle hoof or wheel, But what ile sit while hide will hold and girths and straps are tight . Ile ride this ere two wheeled concern right strait away at sight".

When apon off he goes into all sorts of grief ,as any one who ever road a Penny Farthing can attest , He ended up in the Creek. I ended up with a particulary sore rectum after the first 20 miles Every one waves to you but you dernt wave back or your in the fecculant matter . I just threw that snippet in ,slightly of topic but I know Coinreach would enjoy it .I regret I never met Mr Hawkey .
Regards Rudyard

Any bloke who enjoys the Banjo's poetry is a mate of mine Ruddy.

You and the Hawkey would get on famously, he had a great lasting influence on me in the 80's, I still have a hand made
Sgian Dubh with a Neck slung sheath he made 4 decades ago. Its accompanied me all over the world in my Army career travels losing a good Inch of its length to honing down.

 

[Coinneach]

Pups ?

I'll take a photo of a Trade gun "Pup" tomorrow and post if for you, has an interesting background, another Hawkey original.

 

[Colonial Boy]

Herewith a few pics of my Peter Hawkey ‘North West gun’, 33 inch barrel, .577 bore and weighs 7lbs.

Not good but better than the one I tried out on the wood heap.

Last one shows Peter’s marks on my percussion version,
the Southern Cross, a stylised Hawk Eye and his initials.

 

[Notchy Bob]

Wow, those are some nice-looking guns, @Colonial Boy ! Mr. Hawkey does great work!

The cast brass triggerguard on the top one would be unusual for a traditional Northwest gun, but that is an observation and not a criticism. It looks very good from an aesthetic perspective, and it clearly does the job it was intended to do. I would be glad to have a gun exactly like it.

There were absolutely some variants of the NWG pattern made back in the day. A back issue of The Canadian Journal of Arms Collecting has two photos (left side and right side, both full length) of a Northwest gun with a blunderbuss barrel. Or maybe it's a Northwest blunderbuss. I've never seen another one like it. Also, check out the "serpent" on this original:


Note also the unusual forged trigger, the round barrel, and the tang bolt coming down from the top. This is a "late" feature, yet it has an earlier styled lock with the swan-neck cock rather than the later "reinforced" cock. The point being that these were handmade guns built by a variety of makers over a long period of time, and there was some variation among the originals, yet they were still recognizable as Northwest guns.

Thanks for sharing those pictures with us!

Notchy Bob

 

[Coinneach]

Herewith a few pics of my Peter Hawkey ‘North West gun’, 33 inch barrel, .577 bore and weighs 7lbs.
View attachment 197206Not good but better than the one I tried out on the wood heap.View attachment 197207View attachment 197208View attachment 197209View attachment 197210Last one shows Peter’s marks on my percussion version,
the Southern Cross, a stylised Hawk Eye and his initials.

PH never produced anything less than quality IMO, a quiet reserved gentleman from an earlier era who I was privileged to know.

 

[Coinneach]

Herewith a few pics of my Peter Hawkey ‘North West gun’, 33 inch barrel, .577 bore and weighs 7lbs.
View attachment 197206Not good but better than the one I tried out on the wood heap.View attachment 197207View attachment 197208View attachment 197209View attachment 197210Last one shows Peter’s marks on my percussion version,
the Southern Cross, a stylised Hawk Eye and his initials.

PH never produced anything less than quality IMO, a quiet reserved gentleman from an earlier era who I was privileged to know.

 

[Coinneach]

A NW Trade Gun and its "Pup".

 

[Notchy Bob]

A NW Trade Gun and its "Pup".

@Coinneach ,

What kind of lock is on the lower gun in those pictures? I think you had previously stated the lock on the upper gun as a modified Siler, but I can't positively identify the lower one.

Thanks!

Notchy Bob

 

[Coinneach]

@Coinneach ,

What kind of lock is on the lower gun in those pictures? I think you had previously stated the lock on the upper gun as a modified Siler, but I can't positively identify the lower one.

Thanks!

Notchy Bob

I was told it was a DGW Lock but I'm not sure which one, it was from the 70's when DGW stocked a multitude of Flint and Percussion Locks as you would know.