Well it takes practice which is fun so win win. I'm using a .600 patched ball and shes popping paper plates at 40 yard. Like all guns, she shoots better than I do. Keep making smoke.
The trade gun lock that RE Davis listed for years was a replacement for the Lott lock that hat a hit and miss reputation at the time. I am sure costs of replacement parts worked in there too. See what a Pedersoli mainspring costs on any of thier large locks.
I believe this #1 was not a prototype as it was not used for the photos in the brochure. It therefore was a special presentation gun and it was the first one, hence it would be #1. I guess it could have been for Hal Sharon, the maker of our Trade Gun barrels. Frank was just that kind of guy.
Thank you. The Lott lock is throwing some good sparks and is still working great, but I am the kind of guy who wants to be able to fix things even when they aint broke. I will check with Larry at Mold and Gun Shop and see if the North Star West lock is a good fit. Or what ever he might happen to have that would help me through this.
Well it is fun to guess who it was built for but the real fun is owning the piece and shooting it. I appreciate all your information. It is very helpful in learning more about GRF. I am going to keep an eye out for more of their guns. I especially want one of the pistols but they sure don’t seem to show up anywhere for sale.
I thought that was how all things are supposed to be. I was told by a gentleman once that building rifles was the only way to take $800 in parts to build a $200 rifle. ;-).
Thanks Bob. I will look into the TOW locks. Like I said mine works great but it never hurts to have a back up, because as we all know stuff does happen. As for all the TOW trade gun parts I have a friend who finally canceled his order for their parts after being given multiple ship dates that kept coming and going with no shipping. I think he waited close to a year before he just said enough it enough.
It is a shame that TOW is not living up to their expectations. I have been through something like that with another company with my castings and they aren't around anymore. There are three things that could be happening with TOW. 1) The company that is doing the casting for them isn't capable of larger production runs whether it be the wax mold end or the casting/cleanup end of the process and TOW needs to get another one to do the work. 2) TOW doesn't have a large enough facility whether it is of their own or another company for completion of more locks. 3) They can't or won't pay for an expansion of assembly because of profit concerns even though they will catch it up later. This goes 2 ways a) they see they are behind on the demand and think people will wait so they can maintain the same profit/piece level [they aren't realizing they don't have the fortuosity to be in the same category as Shilo Sharps]. b) They need to do the #1,2,3 above that would probably narrow their profit/piece margin but it would increase their sales because they wouldn't be loosing customers [while making a bad reputation]. DON'T raise the price as the increased volume would bring the total overall profit higher than before or equal.
I know it is a harsh thing to say about TOW and I have nothing bad to say against them, except they need to use more pictures in their original casting copy offerings. Now I'm believing people are going to start flinging stuff at me, but this is a business model that does work.
So... here we go, i'm pushing the "Post Reply" button
Thank you Phil. Very informative. Everything on my trade gun is the same except the lock still has Lott stamped on it and the barrel is blued. Nice looking trade gun you have there. I am enjoying mine and it has received a lot of compliments on the highly figured wood as well as the condition the gun is in. It has been suggested that the gun I have is one that Frank might have build as a presentation gun. The No 1 on the barrel and the extra figured maple stock would seem to make it either a special order or something build special for someone. Not sure but it makes some sense to me. But I am bit on the ignorant side of this equation. I am learning a lot from you and a couple others and am loving every bit of it.I thought I would add pictures of my Green River Forge guns. First, and in line with the thread title, is my North West trade gun. This gun is from the Bellevue, Washington company owned by Frank Straight. It came with a hand written letter from Frank Straight to the original owner, but the letter isn't dated. Straight sold the company in early 1977, so it was obviously made before then. The trade gun was likely made in 1976 because it came with an article the owner had saved from the 1976 Guns & Ammo Annual about Green River Forge and its NW trade gun and its flintlock pistol. It's pretty much like the one Buff posted pictures of except mine has a 36-5/16" barrel and still has the original lock. It is also a 20 gauge smoothbore.
The lock is a modified Lott lock. At this time, GRF was taking the same lock that is on Lonesome Charley's gun and filing off some of the cast-in engraving and the "LOTT" name and acid etching the company's initials on the tail and the "circle fox" in front of the cock.
Here are the internals of the lock on my gun. Note there is no "Made in Italy" stamp or any other stamps on the inside of the lock.
Here is a scan of the Lott lock in the TOTW Catalog #12 from 1991 for comparison. Even though the description says, "Made by our friend Davide Pedersoli," the picture below does not show any "Made in Italy" stamp, either. I'm not sure of the significance of this. This is the last catalog that Track listed the Lott lock. The first mention of Pedersoli making the Lott locks that I could find in my collection of TOTW catalogs was in Catalog #10 dated 1983. It is described as, "Our new Lott Locks have more powerful mainsprings and harder frizzens, for quick action and showers of sparks." This suggests that some changes had been made since the late 1970s when Frank Straight was using these locks, and maybe it was the manufacture.
Below is a scan from the same TOTW catalog of the so called "Tryon" NW trade gun lock made by RE Davis with castings from Pete Allan. This would be the lock on Buff's gun.
Here's a couple more pictures of my trade gun.
The serpent side plate may be the most distinctive feature of the Green River Forge NW trade gun. In the 1976 Guns & Ammo Annual article by Phil Spangenberger mentioned before, the author wrote, "Of special note is the brass serpentine sideplate which Frank Straight of Green River Forge tells me was cast from an original plate."
According to one member here who commented on the gun, he believes it was engraved by Nicholas Watts who worked for Frank in the early to mid 70s. The man who posted said he went to work there in 77 when Nicholas was on his way out. I am getting pretty interested in these guns and would love to learn a lot more about Frank and these guns. Thank you so much for your help and I look forward to seeing your factor’s pistol. I need to look into the GRRW collectors site.
Wow, thank you so much. Your web site is outstanding. I feel lucky to have connected with you. Your research and passion is inspiring. I'd love to find other quality guns of the era. But just talking to those, like yourself who are so knowledgeable is more than I could hope for, whether I find a gun or not.
