Folks, tell me about Fowlers

[DrLaw]

The idea of Fowlers has intrigued me for a while. However, I know nothing much about them and so far, Google has NOT been my friend. Ergo, I arrive here looking for information.

Let's start with how long, heavy, and what caliber (gauge) would a typical flintlock Fowler be?

Ready, set. GO!

The Doc is out now.

 

[Surfinator58]

From what I've seen the term fowler seems to be used more by London gunmakers back in the 1700s I believe any Smooth Bore can be used for shot thus suitable for waterfowl or birds of any kind my fusi de chasses is a 62 caliber and holds about 1 oz of shot

 

[deerstalkert]

https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/threads/building-an-early-vermont-fowler.146847/from the master

 

[Cruzatte]

Fowling pieces can be any gauge you like. The Northwest Gun sold by the Hudson Bay Co. was often 24 gauge. The French trade guns coming out of St. Etienne workshops were frequently about 20 ga. Later British double guns were all over the map.

Nowadays it all comes down to the shooter. What do you want to do with your expected fowling piece; hunt birds, squirrels, and rabbits? Or do you want to shoot a moose? How about busting clay pigeons? What about re-enacting?

Trade guns were light, even the long barreled French guns, weighing perhaps 7 lbs tops (or less). Military muskets were behemoths. Barrel lengths tended to become shorter from the mid 18th century throughout the 19th century. Early Hudson valley fowling pieces often had barrels exceeding 5 ft. long. The French likewise favored long barrels, some exceeding 4½ ft.

Why, you may ask, am I going on about trade guns, and not dedicated fowling pieces? Because any smooth bored shoulder fired arm can, in my opinion, be used as a fowling piece.

 

[Grenadier1758]

To be somewhat pedantic, the term fowler refers to the person hunting fowl (birds). Here on the forum we understand that the term, fowler, also refers to the smooth bored gun used to hunt exist.

A typical fowler can be of a gauge suitable to the hunting needs. Barrel lengths of 38 to 48 inches are common.

A good fowling gun will be light, from slightly under 6 pounds to about 8, depending on what gauge bore is used. Gauges run from 24 to 10. It will usually be single barreled. The barrel will likely be octagon to round or round to reduce weight. The stock will be straight and no cheek piece or pronounced comb giving the shooter a wide area to hold on game.

Get the book "Flintlock Fowlers" by Grinslade for descriptions of the many styles and regional variations that exixt.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Getting harder to find the old books on the various blackpowder topics.

https://www.amazon.com/Flintlock-Fo...refix=flintlock+fowlers,stripbooks,311&sr=1-1

 

[hanshi]

I prefer calling them either a "smoothbore" or a "musket"; I see no difference other than one individual gun compared to another. My smoothbore is 38" bbl and 8 lbs. I primarily shoot ball.

 

[DrLaw]

To answer one question, what would I be using it for. Primarily Turkey, Rabbit, Deer, Squirrel. I'm in Illinois, so it has to be a round ball of more than .45 caliber for deer. I see that most here call them Smoothbores and not Fowlers.
Deerstalker, I checked that out and see that you have done great work on your gun.
So final question. Would the Kibler Colonial in smooth bore .54 fit in for what I am looking for? Reason I ask is that I am already familiar with the SMR by Kibler.

BTW, thank you all for answering so fast. It is appreciated.

The Doc is out now.

 

[rich pierce]

If interested in American built fowling pieces, do buy the Grinslade “Flintlock Fowlers” book. You’ll see there is great variation in style, bore, barrel length, and weight.

 

[Grenadier1758]

@DrLaw, I would think the Kibler Colonial in 58 smooth would give you a 24 gauge smooth rifle. It would have a larger ball for the deer and just a bit more shot available for the squirrel and rabbit hunting. The larger caliber takes some weight out of the barrel and makes it a bit easier handling.

 

[Feltwad]

The name fowler has a different meaning in some countries it is a old fashion word explain the really old type of gun . But if we take the name fowling here in the UK from 1800 and onwards means a gun for shooting wildfowl of the bore size from a 10 to the big 2 bore with 4, 6, 8 the most common used anything larger is revered to has a bank or punt gun . If we take the bore size from 12 down to the 410 we class these has sporting guns the most common were 12,14,16, 20, 24 , 28 , 32, 410 You will find that the early guns refereed to has fowlers had a barrel length of 40inches plus with the sporting gun is common at 30 inch barrels mostly due to the improving grades of gun powder
Feltwad

 

[sheriff john]

The term "fowler", IMHO, refers to shoulder - fired pieces created for hunting critters, mostly for food, and are smooth bored and easy to carry afield. Although a smooth bored "musket" can be used with shot for the same purpose, a "musket" is made as a battle weapon as its primary purpose. Muskets are for killing enemies, whether shooting them, bayonetting them, or clubbing over the head. Muskets tend to be built stout, stocks substantially heavier, and bore diameters sufficient to launch man-killing charges. Both are fun to shoot.

Some muskets will have rifled barrels, fowlers will not. Some fowlers will have a choked bore, muskets do not. Muskets were standardized. Fowling pieces individualized in the olden days. Modern, machine made, mass produced fowlers are an exception of course. What some call "fowling pieces" were actually multi-purpose single-barrel long arms sufficiently stout to fire either a large single projectile, large shot (buckshot), or small shot (birdshot) with regularity but are not "muskets".

 

[Brokennock]

To answer one question, what would I be using it for. Primarily Turkey, Rabbit, Deer, Squirrel. I'm in Illinois, so it has to be a round ball of more than .45 caliber for deer. I see that most here call them Smoothbores and not Fowlers.
Deerstalker, I checked that out and see that you have done great work on your gun.
So final question. Would the Kibler Colonial in smooth bore .54 fit in for what I am looking for? Reason I ask is that I am already familiar with the SMR by Kibler.

BTW, thank you all for answering so fast. It is appreciated.

The Doc is out now.

Given that none of your listed uses includes "shooting flying," a smoothrifle would be a great choice.
Do you also have a minimum gauge for turkey hunting? Even if a there is no legal restriction a .54 caliber smoothbore is a bit on the small side for turkey. It can be done, but it isn't ideal.

 

[deerstalkert]

To answer one question, what would I be using it for. Primarily Turkey, Rabbit, Deer, Squirrel. I'm in Illinois, so it has to be a round ball of more than .45 caliber for deer. I see that most here call them Smoothbores and not Fowlers.
Deerstalker, I checked that out and see that you have done great work on your gun.
So final question. Would the Kibler Colonial in smooth bore .54 fit in for what I am looking for? Reason I ask is that I am already familiar with the SMR by Kibler.

BTW, thank you all for answering so fast. It is appreciated.

The Doc is out now.

good grief, i wish that was my work! that was Dave's work. i am ashamed to post my endeavors. he mentioned rustic and crude. i can supply the crude!

 

[Hatchet-Jack]

I built this one. I used it a the NMLRA nationals at the primitive range. I plan to use it for squirrel, rabbit and Turkey hunting in Kentucky. I can shoot a .62 ball with it or lead shot. I love the versatility of being able to load it for large or small game. It's a Colonial "Meat Getter".

 

[Clovis6]

I built this one. I used it a the NMLRA nationals at the primitive range. I plan to use it for squirrel, rabbit and Turkey hunting in Kentucky. I can shoot a .62 ball with it or lead shot. I love the versatility of being able to load it for large or small game. It's a Colonial "Meat Getter".
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Nice looking piece. What is the barrel length and why did you choose to go with that length? Have been looking at picking up a flintlock Fowler, but can't seem to decide if I want an earlier version with a 40-42" barrel or something from later in the period with a 36-38" barrel.

 

[Hatchet-Jack]

Nice looking piece. What is the barrel length and why did you choose to go with that length? Have been looking at picking up a flintlock Fowler, but can't seem to decide if I want an earlier version with a 40-42" barrel or something from later in the period with a 36-38" barrel.

Thanks it's a 46" Rice octagon to round bbl. This was built from a Jim Chambers PA Fowler kit. I wanted to build an early American made Fowler like my ancestors might have used. They had very long bbls. The gun is very well balanced and light weighing about 7lbs.

 

[Sidney Smith]

I've got a flintlock smoothbore that I put together a couple years ago. My main goal was hunting pheasants with it, so I opted for a shorter barrel, in order to be able to swing on rising birds more easily. I went with a .62 caliber octagon to round with a 36 inch length. This gun is light and swings nicely. I usually shoot a 1 1/8 ounce load of bird shot out of it. I have contemplated using it for deer using round balls, but as of yet have not done so.

 

[Loja man]

Thanks it's a 46" Rice octagon to round bbl. This was built from a Jim Chambers PA Fowler kit. I wanted to build an early American made Fowler like my ancestors might have used. They had very long bbls. The gun is very well balanced and light weighing about 7lbs.

Jack let me shot this gun at Friendship a few weeks back! It is a amazing light well balanced gun!!! It shoulders so nice! It is on my to buy list!!

 

[stephenprops1]

The idea of Fowlers has intrigued me for a while. However, I know nothing much about them and so far, Google has NOT been my friend. Ergo, I arrive here looking for information.

Let's start with how long, heavy, and what caliber (gauge) would a typical flintlock Fowler be?

Ready, set. GO!

The Doc is out now.

I seem to be the odd man out on this. I have a 66 caliber/16-gauge Smoothbore. It was custom built by Larry Zornes from Jackson, Ohio. It is called the Rogers Rangers because it is essentially a Brown Bess carbine. --- I was looking for a 28 gauge when I found it. However, I have always liked a 16 gauge shotgun and when I found this one I couldn't resist it.