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Rob, put me on your list for the "Trade Muskets or Northwest Guns by Pryor Mt. Bill Newton"!! I've looked everywhere and have not found a copy available. I realize you've got a lot of work on your plate, but now you're going into book publishing, too! Hopefully, you'll get around to doing this work when you have some breathing room.
I've really enjoyed your threads on your building Northwest & Carolina guns. Thanks alot!, DD832

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dd832 said:
Rob, put me on your list for the "Trade Muskets or Northwest Guns by Pryor Mt. Bill Newton"!! I've looked everywhere and have not found a copy available. I realize you've got a lot of work on your plate, but now you're going into book publishing, too! Hopefully, you'll get around to doing this work when you have some breathing room.
I've really enjoyed your threads on your building Northwest & Carolina guns. Thanks alot!, DD832

​

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LOL ....ok bud. :)
 
I built one using a grid sheet from a burial excivation in NY. The Mohawk warrior had been nice enough to completely cover the stock with brass tacks before he died, sometime around 1650. There was a six inch section of barrel breech with intact bore. The only change I made was to replace the "Snaplock" with a flint doglock copy.

"Trade guns" have been pretty much uniform since the Indians realized what they needed in the woods. Light weight, medium bore, good balance, rugged hardware. The NW gun was the final step in the evolution and survived until 1913 with the HBC. The English found that they could not give away military surplus to the Indians. They considered the ugly chunks an insult.

At that time there were no "builders locks" available to me. I stripped the guts out of a large Siler, reworked the frizen, ground the bridle off the pan and made a new cock and plate.

It was the first gun I built. I had to be PC for a 1673 reenactment and no one was there to tell me it was more than I needed to try, so I just did it! Still have it, still carry it, people still do a double take when they see the lock.

Today we have "trade locks", preshaped stocks, choice of rifled or smooth bore Oct-round tubes, ready made hardware. You could probably put a trade gun together over a weekend and have the finish on by Sunday night.

If you think you can beat the componant price on the Track of the Wolf kit then give it a whirl, but you are setting yourself up for some big time work! At least start with the generic musket stock Track offers. That alone will save you a week of work. The butt plate and thimbles you can make yourself, but they are the least expensive of the components. You could find a cheaper barrel from a modern shotgun, but what would be the point. Without the half round half oct barrel it will not be a very good TG copy. You will still have to put out the money for the TG lock.

You will probaly find that buying cheaper componants individually will cost more than the Trak kit.
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Those Natives really did have a sense of style! :) I'm amazed how light my Gostomsky Trade is with a 42 " barrel! Slender and light. I really like Trade Guns but never paid them any mind until about a year ago; almost bought the Military Heritage one (which looks nice!) until stumbling upon my North Star Gostomsky at auction. (Mine's a .72 just under 7 pounds.)
 
rusty said:
Has anyone ever tried to make a NW trade gun useing the plans in Bill Newtons book. I was thinking of buying a barrel and lock and trying to make everything else myself any and all comments welcome..Regards ..rusty
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Eight or nine of them. The problem with the kits today is they are too heavy; NWG were light. Today, they use the same size blank (and external dimensions) on 20 gauge and 24 gauge barrels (and maybe even some larger bores). Getting a 24 gauge barrel, and making it light enough, is important if you want a gun that handles like the originals. Some of the locks are close enough, maybe you can adapt the furniture that is available (but most of it is too heavy--those pipes on the originals were folded, and LIGHT). If you follow the plans, the Whateley that PMB drew up is the nicest NWG you can have.
 
dd832 said:
Rob, put me on your list for the "Trade Muskets or Northwest Guns by Pryor Mt. Bill Newton"!! I've looked everywhere and have not found a copy available. I realize you've got a lot of work on your plate, but now you're going into book publishing, too! Hopefully, you'll get around to doing this work when you have some breathing room.
I've really enjoyed your threads on your building Northwest & Carolina guns. Thanks alot!, DD832

​

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I have one too.
 

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