French Fusil

This is one I built using Davis barrel and trigger guard and buttplate. I made the thimbles and used a plank instead of the precarve stock. I also used a different Davis lock and filed it up.

 

 

I studied Hamilton and Bouchard for the details on this gun. Both pretty good books for reference on French guns. If anybody Poo Poo's these two books....tell them to write one that is better.

 

The one major thing that sold me on the Davis parts is the fact that the barrel was copied from an original. It is a full 48" long and is 1 3/16" wide at the breech. This barrel was copied faithfully. The lock that comes with the kit needs work. Matter of fact, I don't know of ANY lock on the market that is a good copy of the French locks. There is always a lot of filing to do on any of them to get them to vaguely resemble a french lock. Chambers, Davis, anybody, PLEASE get us a good FRENCH lock on the market.
We have German, English and american locks out the bung but NO FRENCH locks that are worth a dime. :blah:

 

[Mike Brooks]

Hey Cooner, my dogs run faster than your dogs do...of course they're looking to have pork steaks for supper instead of stinky old fox. :rotf:
That sure is a nice gun.... nicest french fowler ever posted on these boards.Havn't I said that before? :hmm:

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I thought Cooner's sideplate was chasing venison, but it could be a big fox, or maybe a coyote.

Bill

What disease did cured ham actually have?

 

[Mike Brooks]

Nope, Fox sure enough. Although the french fox could easily be turned into a deer with the addition of antlers!
Here's a little slide show of my version of Cooners hardware. I'm afraid my fox and dog are pathetic examples compared to his. :shake: :barf: ...but, not as bad as some of the originals! :haha:
French hardware

 

[tg]

Cooner, thanks for posting pics of that gun I have been waiting to see one, you have nailed it to the letter,that wood comes down to a sliver it looks like, I see where my next build will be if I ever do another gun....maybe not Mikes Carolina gun is a real eyecatcher as well and I have a French gun..Here is another cleaned up Davis lock I also removed the finial on the frizzen spring and altered the bottom of the pan a bit and the thumbscrew and cock above the mounting screw, I looked a a pic of an original and tried to make it is close as I could, I think one could straighten out the verticle part behind the jaws if one wanted to I have an extra cock to experiment with but have not done it yet, once again Cooner great job

 

Dern it Mike. All this time I thought that was a Bambi knock off in that Hamilton book. :redface:
Yes sir, I have shown these pix about a year or so ago. I sure appreciate the compliments. That wire work on your gun is really neatly done and I like the boar hunt scene too.

 

Looks good to me tg. One a these days we may be lucky enough to be able to buy a HC french trade lock so we don't have to file the carp out of these quasi-german locks. :hmm: Any lock suppliers out there? It's a customer demand thingy.
Hopeful,
Cooner

 

One a these days we may be lucky enough to be able to buy a HC french trade lock so we don't have to file the carp out of these quasi-german locks. :hmm: Any lock suppliers out there? It's a customer demand thingy.
Hopeful,
Cooner

Why would you want that????. Then everyone and their dog will have one. It's so much better making something that CAN'T be just bought. It makes your stuff stand out in a crowd IMO.

 

[Flint62Smoothie]

Chambers, Davis, anybody, PLEASE get us a good FRENCH lock on the market. :blah:

Well, as 'tg' and 'Okwaho' (Tom) know, I've been putting off the build of my 1721 contract Fusil de Tulle as I've been waiting for a suitable lock, left-handed albeit.

Called RE Davis today to see if they had any flints left @ $105 per hundred (they did not ) but they assured me that the next Davis project will be an early HC French lock. I though, will have to wait for a much longer time to get a lefty version .

Anyone care to comment please on 'which' left-handed lock might be the easiest to modify into a somewhat period correct 'early' (flat faced) French lock? I am looking at the L&R Queen Anne's lock from TOW and the Trade Lock from Mike Rowe of Caywood, both in lefthand. I had large LH Siler and it was still too small to me.

 

Well, I don't know doodley squat about french locks however, if you were considering a siler, just get a left handed siler and, assuming that the pan can be modified to suit your needs, throw the plate away and make whatever kind of plate you need. That's the beauty of a detached pan, without an integral pan, making a plate would be a snap.

 

Master Gunsmith And Professional Artist rolled into one.
That best work on this site and probably the best work anywhere.
:bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow:

 

[Mike Brooks]

Chambers, Davis, anybody, PLEASE get us a good FRENCH lock on the market. :blah:

Well, as 'tg' and 'Okwaho' (Tom) know, I've been putting off the build of my 1721 contract Fusil de Tulle as I've been waiting for a suitable lock, left-handed albeit.

Called RE Davis today to see if they had any flints left @ $105 per hundred (they did not ) but they assured me that the next Davis project will be an early HC French lock. I though, will have to wait for a much longer time to get a lefty version .

Anyone care to comment please on 'which' left-handed lock might be the easiest to modify into a somewhat period correct 'early' (flat faced) French lock? I am looking at the L&R Queen Anne's lock from TOW and the Trade Lock from Mike Rowe of Caywood, both in lefthand. I had large LH Siler and it was still too small to me.

I'd go with a right handed lock and put some left handed cast off on the stock. There isn't a left handed lock on the market that works very well, at least up to my standards anyway. :wink:
Well...I've used a few of those Little mantons on double guns that L&R makes and they work real well. But that isn't going to do much for a 1721 french gun.

 

Thank you sir. But....as an artist and historian I must be able to critique my own work and be able to take criticism from others and learn from it. This gun was made about 5 years ago and I have learned more about these guns in the interim. If you look at the top (comb) of the buttstock you will see that it is too flat. The buttstock fragment that I was able to study in hand had been lowered and squared off. I didn't realize at the time that these french fusils had a round comb. One of these days I will refinish this gun and make the adjustments in the stock architecture that are needed. If I ever get the time to do so. Plus, as Tom has pointed out, there are usually three forward rampipes on these long fusils instead of two. This critique may help any of you who are intending to make one of these long graceful french pieces. There is very little wood left on these guns. Sleek and graceful.
Thanks again for the kind word.

 

I plan on using yours as a model when I rework mine.

Ive still got lots of wood to remove.

 

It is best to have too much material and to be able to judiciously remove it than to have too little. That is a nice finish on that gun,BTW.
Good luck on the resculpturing. :wink:

 

[hawkeye1755]

He Cooner, what a beauty. :bow: :bow:
She looks fantastic.Shoots she like she looks or is she a little devil?
:hatsoff:

 

She shoots good. I am in agreement with Mike that the longer smoothbore barrles shoot more accurately. This one is a tighter shooter than my 36" NW gun. I shoot rifle mostly so I don't have enough practice with the smoothbores to get fluent. :redface: