CLOSED NorthStar West 20g Chief Grade or maybe Officers

[Lakeman]

When I bought this smoothbore some time back I was told it was a Chief Grade. A couple of things make me think Officers Model. For instance, the side plate is inlet into the wood and is not the serpent I expect on a trade gun. Then there's the butt plate that is rounded and held on by two screws rather than being flat and held by nails. Regardless, it's a fine gun in very good condition. Shoots good, too. I've used a .60" ball with various types of patching and wadding as well as #4 buckshot and #6 birdshot. All gave good results. A member of this forum told me that he was one of the last builders for NSW and may have built this gun,

Barrel is 20g and 30" in length. Bore is shiny. Lock is stamped "Whatley" and throws a big shower of sparks. LOP is a little over 13 1/2". There is a small chip behind the tang. Comes with a sling.

I will sell but I'd really prefer a trade. My first choice would be Fusil De Chasse with other design smoothbores coming second. Right or left-handed. I'm a lefty but learned to ignore that flash in front of my face long ago. I would also consider a .40-.45 cal flintlock rifle but it has to be left-handed. I refuse to own a rifle with the cheek rest on the wrong side for me. Call me picky.

John

 

[springfield art]

True trade guns had to have the Serpent side plate; it was a requirement of the Native's taste and demand; sort of like a reliable trade mark. Good luck, it's nice.

 

[user 53846]

Chief's Grade Trade Guns generally had a fancier side plate than just a Serpent. Almost looked like fowlers.

 

[user 34486]

True trade guns had to have the Serpent side plate; it was a requirement of the Native's taste and demand; sort of like a reliable trade mark. Good luck, it's nice.

That's just wrong. There were plenty of guns with conventional side plates given or traded to Natives. The archeological data and extant invoices don't lie.

OP, what you have definitely smacks of a fusil respecting the cypher on the lock and the military etuncheon. With respect to trade guns, they're virtually identical to every other civilian arm of the time. They ranged along a price spectrum of cheap to not cheap, but they were all of quality for their price point, the overwhelming majority of them being cheap. The twenty to thirty shilling guns compared to the 16 shilling guns are virtually identical to any other of their time because they were the same guns, thus having pinned and screwed butt plates rather than nailed, more engraving, maybe a hook beach, and many having bridled locks. There's nothing preventing your gun from conceivably being in the hands of Natives sometime after 1788.

 

[JCB]

Looks like an older North Star chiefs grade. I don’t think they used serpent side plates on the chiefs model. The officers model was made to attach a bayonet yours is not.

 

[tenngun]

The trade fusil was most popular and even made in Belgium, the Low Countries and American makers that all looked almost exactly the same. But the high grade chiefs gun, along with the contract trade rifles looked just like fusils and plain rifles of the time
Look at Firearms traps and tools of the Mountain men for examples and history.

 

[LongWalker]

Not sure just what you have. . . I pulled up an archived page from NSW's old catalog. The lock, and most of the furniture are correct for an "Officer's Model". The barrel appears to be a 20 gauge trade gun barrel rather than the 37 1/2" .668 caliber (16 gauge) military barrel on the "Officer's Model", and as JCB pointed out, the muzzle isn't cut back for a bayonet. I'm almost wondering if someone built it up copying a Board of Ordnance gun/variation.

In any event, it looks like a very nice piece, which leaves the question. . . how much for a cash sale?

 

[Lakeman]

Several folks have messaged me asking for a sale price. I'm still hoping for a trade and am not in a hurry to get rid of the gun. I'm going to give it some time and see what happens.
Thanks

 

[Notchy Bob]

I don't know exactly what you have. NSW made a variety of "standard" models over time, but every one of them could have some custom features at the buyer's request. I remember their Northwest gun, the early English trade gun, the Chief's grade, and the Officer's fusil. However, they also did a few "one offs." I recall about the time I ordered my Northwest gun from them, they had a blunderbuss up on the website for sale. Evidently, one of the fellows in the shop had made it just for fun, they all shot it just to try it out, then put it up for sale.

Anyway, I think what you have looks more like a "Cypher Gun" than anything else. I believe this is a modern collector's term you may not find in the fur trade literature. As I understand it, these were a slightly better grade of trade gun for the natives in the North American British colonies, built until some time in the 1790's. After that, the design changed somewhat, and the military-style escutcheon on the wrist was replaced with a silver medallion showing the torso of an Indian holding a bow. Neither of these gun types had a serpent sideplate. The later post-1790's guns were distributed by the British to their native allies, especially during the War of 1812. There were a couple of articles about these so-called "medallion guns" in the Canadian Journal of Arms Collecting, and I think at least a couple of individual pieces were described in articles in the Museum of the Fur Trade Quarterly. I can look up the specific citations if you are interested. However, the only article I know of which deals specifically with the pre-1790 "cypher guns" is in The American Society of Arms Collectors bulletin Number 74, "Wilson Cypher Guns - Chief's Guns of the Revolution," by Lee Burke. The author points out that some of the later (near 1790) production of these were starting to show some inferior workmanship, despite being considered "Chief's Guns."

As I recall, the NSW "Chief's Grade" gun was more like the post-1790 "Medallion Guns," so I believe the subject gun of this thread may be a custom job out the NSW shop, or possibly an early production or experimental piece. It isn't totally correct for a "Cypher Gun," either... one would expect more engraving, and on the originals, the wrist escutcheon or thumb-piece had a lug on the underside to engage a screw coming up through the wrist from the bottom. You can see this in the X-rays in Lee Burke's article. However, it is a very nice gun. My NSW Northwest gun is one of the relatively few new guns I have bought that was range-ready out of the box. The lock on mine is exceptional, with reliable and positive ignition and it is easy on flints. Whoever gets the OP's gun in trade will probably like it a lot.

Best regards,

Notchy Bob