New England smoothbore?

[Mikey the Barbarian]

Mike,,Whew! I thought you had a pic of Toni when shes having a 'bad hair' day! Scared me! lol Id have to say, seriously, thats the meanest looking rooster I ever saw,,,,,!

 

[oldarmy]

I build this little walnut stocked fowler a while ago. New England plain, The lock pannels are huge :redface:
newbie erors, but the style is typical NE. English influenced, barrel is only 42" should be longer and the cal is 28 gage, which is a little small for the time. Link

 

[Roy]

:thumbsup:

 

[chuckpa]

That is one beautiful fowler

 

[DrTimboone]

Get a subscription to Track of the Wolfe's Archives and look at pictures there.

 

[Russ T Frizzen]

I'll second that thought. The archive is a bargain in my opinion--I can't think of a web-site where there are as many high quality gun photos available. :thumbsup:

 

[Marc Adamchek]

Er, how does one go about getting a "subscription" to TOTW's Archive. I've never heard of this service before, and although I frequent their site often, have never even seen a reference to it. Sounds interesting. Any help is appreciated. Thanks - Marc

 

[Wes/Tex]

On their home page you'll see the word "Archive" next to "Home" on the tool bar at the top of the page. Click on that and you can subscribe for a month or year, the latter is the better deal...lots of neat photos of the stuff they've sold.

 

[Marc Adamchek]

Many Thanks, Sir Wes/Tex!

 

[John Tice]

New England fowlers are different from all other guns of the period. There seems to have been two basic types: the club butt and the “New England” fowler, which it is often called. The club butt is a very old style dating back to the 17th century. What is interesting is that while British guns changed to the classic “Brown Bess” or “British fowler” stock style, the New England club butt did not change very much if at all. This style was used throughout New England and into the Hudson Valley, though eastern Massachusetts was probably the core area. The club butt is in my opinion the first real American frontier gun. They were basic and usually very Spartan in their hardware. Often furniture like the sideplate and butt plate were simply omitted. Just Lock-Stock-and-Barrel if you will. The club butt was made until about the end of the 18th century when it finally phased out. Maybe the oldest surviving club butt is the ca 1665-7 Enoch Bolton gun made in Charlestown, Massachusetts so they were around for a long time. Anyone who owns a club butt fowler will tell you why they lasted so long as they are real joy to shoot. They shoulder and shoot wonderfully and are well balanced guns. A lot of them saw service in the early years of the Revolution before the French and Dutch imports arrived. Club butts or fish-belly fowlers, as they are sometimes called, were typically made of maple in New England, but cherry and walnut was also used. These were simple guns for hunting and defense and deserve a special and important place in early American arms history.
The other kind of New England fowler, often called “the New England fowler,” for no better term, seems to have come about around the mid 18th century in the Connecticut River Valley and is decidedly French in architecture. People have discussed these a bit in this forum in the past. Of this type there were also regional styles, such as the Worcester County type with French and imitation French furniture, these guns were almost all stocked in cherry. In Connecticut they were often stocked in maple. During the Revolutionary War gun makers throughout Connecticut, like Medad Hills, were turning out such fowlers for the war effort. They are well made, and like the club butts, they often have a real mix of furniture and lock types, including pieces from English, French, and Hudson Valley guns. New England fowlers tend to be very long but with a somewhat smaller bore, mostly in the .60s range. I have shot a lot of different types of guns over the years, owned a few, but the club butt and New England fowler are hands down and by far the best and provide an entirely different shooting experience. They are the only two guns I own. Though this is just my opinion as I am no expert. I concur with Mr. Brooks, Grinslade’s book is excellent and worth the purchase. I also like George C. Neumann’s ”˜Battle Weapons of the American Revolution’ as there are some fine New England guns in there that are not found in Grinslade’s book.

 

[xia_emperor]

Thanks, great info!!