Ordering my Fowler.. need your help

[Southarkrob]

I am ordering my fowler from Tip Curtis tomorrow and I need help on the barrel length...

I have it narrowed down to 3... yeah ... yeah..I know. A Bucks County style with a 38" barrel and walnut stock. A Bucks County style with a 44" barrel and walnut wood. Lastly a English style with a 42" barrel with maple wood.

Is 38" too short? I know I dont really want one longer than 44". I really appreciate you guys help. Thanks Robbie

 

[Celt5494]

I would imagine if you are going for authenticity the style of fowler might well dictate the barell length. If that's not a worry for you what are you looking to do with your fowling piece. Will you be using predominantley shot or round ball? Is it for hunting?

 

[rabjr]

Personally I think the longer they are the better looking they are. I think if you go with a 38" barrel, you'll end up wishing you went with 42". So if you think 44" is to long for you then split the difference and go with the 42". For the type of fowler your planning, you'll be glad you did. :thumbsup:

 

[Southarkrob]

I am planning on using this for hunting mainly. Going to shoot shot and balls. I am leaning towards the 44" now. I found a couple of pics of 38" fowlers in the pics section..I think I will like the 42 or 44" version better. Just have to decide between English style and Bucks Cty. Thanks guys. Robbie

 

[rabjr]

:thumbsup:

 

[Snow on the Roof]

As swampy said, I chose a 36" barrel and now wish I'd gone longer. With round balls I prefer a longer sight radius and the 44" works well. Mine is a TVM built by Jack Garner and has a strong English influence. The more schooled in the various styles could chime in here :hatsoff: but I believe a Bucks County will have a longer drop at the comb, for some that works for others not. Would a road trip to Tennessee be possible? If you could shoulder a couple of Tip's guns the decision would be easy. One thought, how will you use it? If your hunting is squirrels, turkeys and deer the longer barrel and the Bucks county might be to your liking. If you're a wing shooter, particularly in tight cover, a shorter barrel and the English style would be a good choice.

Snow

 

[Southarkrob]

thanks Snow...I would love to go to Mr Curtis's shop but it is a 16 hr round trip and my schedule wont allow it at the moment. Since what you told me the Bucks Cty is looking better..squirrels, turkey and deer are my main targets..oh dont forget the unfortunate hog that crosses pathes with me. Thanks Robbie

 

[Rifleman1776]

This is a matter of personal taste really. I am having one built now with a 36" barrel because of physical limitations. And, my Brown Bess (sitting unused for a long time) is not in my gun safe because it will not fit. It that is important to you then measure your safe and order accordingly.

 

[tg]

I am not real fowler buff but how much did the "schools" influence the styles of fowlers in the 18th century,? the different type of shooting done would seem to make some "school" styles not so good for a fowler used for wingshooting, Bucks was one of the later rifle schools I believe, how many existing originals had sub 40" barrels? I woulod think a bit more research is in order here, the English style is a safe bet and very popular now as it was then, probably a reson behind this, I wuld not go shorter than 42" from my experience for comfort, patterning shoting ball as well as shot do not let a long barrel spook you they are quite easy to adjust to using.

 

[hanshi]

On the plus side, if you decide on a long barrel you won't be bothered with muzzle heaviness as you might with a rifle.

 

[tg]

"This is a matter of personal taste really."

This kind of depends on whether one is trying to follow historu or not and the long barrel (44") has not prooved to be any problem for me in heavy Grouse cover, one jyt carries the gun a bit differently this will come to one pretty automaticaly I think, are there any Bucks styled fowlers in the Grinsdale book on fowlers? The more I think of a fowler following a "school" the more I question it from an architectural position

 

[Rifleman1776]

tg, I would suggest if you ever tear your super infraspinatus (I'm not cussin' folks, that's a muscle in your shoulder rotator cuff) you will immediately find a huge difference between effort required in holding a long barrel compared to a short one. And, I would suggest, at your age, never ignore unexplained shoulder pain. Muscles tears if not repaired fairly quickly often cannot be fixed at all. As for the "personal taste" comment. My personal taste is to try to stay in the shooting game as long as possible. It seems likely my treasured Jaeger may never again be fired by me. The realities of life are not always happy ones.

 

[rabjr]

I'm faced with limitations myself. I quickly found weight, length, balance needed to be just right. I start to have a tough time with most rifles over 34" barrel length. But I found with the right balance point I could use a 42" smoothbore, providing it wasn't to heavy.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Swampy, I think you have given this poster the best advice. The length of the barrel on a fowler HAS to be decided in part by how well the gun balances for you as a shooter. If you can't lift the gun, or you can swing it, you simply are never going to enjoy shooting it.

Someone else suggested a Trip to Tennessee to see Tip's Shop, and try out several different Barrel lengths. I think that is excellent. When such a trip is NOT possible, then find a local BP club where members own a variety of fowlers, and muskets, and try them out. Weight and Balance become serious factors when ordering any long barreled gun.

I once had the privilege to handle an original Tower Armory made 12 ga. DB shotgun( flint) that had 36" barrels. Its balance point was right where your forehand held the forestock, and it was a fine firearm to mount and swing on a moving target. Weight was over 9 lbs.

You should be able to find a fowler in 20 ga. and that 42" or 44" barrel length that weighs somewhere between 6 and 7 lbs. By comparison, you will find a 38" barrel seems to swing much faster, and feels lighter, even when it may not be lighter.


I like wide buttplates on my long guns, to distribute recoil over more of my shoulder. Maybe I am just an old guy, trying to avoid damaging my shoulders any more than I already have. But, I have found that those wide butts make shooting a lot more pleasant, and shooting more fun for me. I don't know if that fits the "Bucks" County school of making stocks on fowlers or not. :hmm: :surrender: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

[Southarkrob]

Thanks for all the help guys...

 

[tg]

I was just commenting that if ytrying to stay with history personal choice is not always an issue it does not matter if one has health issues or not, and I have not been able to change a light bulb with my right for 10 years due to multiple shoulder ailments some non-operable in my right shoulder so I am quite aware of the pain thing

 

[Rifleman1776]

My theory/philosophy of "correctness" or "authentic" flies in the face of what many belive and encourage others to follow. I believe that folks 'back then' were for the most part poor and could not buy a period correct gun. I believe they used what they had. A lot of Rev period Charlyvilles and Brown Bess's got the hacksaw treatment and served on farm and frontier for a long time afterwards. Guns last a long time. A locally famous photograph shows a man sitting on his porch with a CW rifled musket close to hand. He lived well into the 1950s or later. Plus folks had individual tastes and some, like me, still do. I will acknowledge, however, that without the questions of what is 'authentic' or 'correct' a lot of campfire discusssions :yakyak: would be mighty quiet. :wink:

 

[tg]

" I believe that folks 'back then' were for the most part poor and could not buy a period correct gun."

If one bought any gun in the "period" it would be PC even if altered, and one can have the same type of gun today, a parts gun a cutdown gun or whatever.And we usually do not rely on "beliefs" but historical records of which there is no shortage on most issues.I have never seen any mention in period writings of someone not being able to buy a gun that was of a type style that was available at that time in history. where is this place going?
I would realy like the period reference to all the military guns that got cut up or down whichever the case may be.

 

[flintlockmdj]

tg, I had the same thoughts but you said it so much better than I could.

 

[tg]

Hey, I believe in the right to have opinions as they stimulate thought and open doors to more research in directions possibly not taken before BUT they should be based in reality and at least have a shred of common sense attatched, same as debates or arguements, both sides have to at least have a working knowledge of the topic matter.To enter into a topic and try to contribute with zero knowledge is pointless and only prooves what allready may be suspected as to ones cerebral capacity, the historical connection and provenace of things does not generaly need to be a matter of speculation as for the most part there is sufficient evidence surviving to provide a solid path of exploreation, the "woulda, coulda" syndrome really needs to be buried 6' deep with no ceremony, and people should not get scared into foolishness when the word History is used, it is not a dirty word,and so many unneedingly seem to feel attacked as soon as it is used in a topic.