Painted Stock Trade Rifles?

[jon math]

I have read descriptions of painted stocks on trade rifles and among these descriptions is mentioned that decorations were sometimes painted on including vines, flowers and polka dots. I have found photos of the vines but the polka dots have alluded me. Does anyone have a reference for one of those stocks? I have this ghastly 1976 era musket with a two piece stock made of some kind of pallet wood that refuses to take stain so I planning on painting it and perhaps doing the decorations too.

The lock and barrel are from the Japanese company that made Browning firearms Miroko (or something like that) and it is a decent lock, with an amazingly nice trigger for what it is. It will never be anything but an impression of a flint lock musket, but it’s a smoothbore that shoots straight; if I can get it looking somewhat better I don’t mind hunting with an ugly piece.

 

[Cruzatte]

Leman used to artificially stripe his rifle stocks. I've heard of 18th century English trade guns having painted stocks as you describe. But not rifles. The Bumford gun comes to mind

 

[jon math]

Old military guy - gun has a different meaning to me I’m looking for long gun stocks in the polka dot pattern. If its rifle bored or a musket or even a smooth rifle I’d be happy at this point. I’ve found photos of repos of the Bumford, that is the first photo of an original I’ve seen””very impressive Thank you for posting it. If I cannot find the polka dot pattern I may end up with the vine design.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Well there's also a Lightning Pattern which is based on details from a period portrait.

Here is some more detail on the bumford gun on a Bumford Reproduction Gun (scroll down in the link)

Here's the same idea as the Bumford but with a red background Red Bumford

Have you considered a Solid Color ? Blue is good for a Carolina gun. My India origin trade gun is simply painted red.

I confess I haven't found any with dots..., just vines and lightening, and faux tiger-maple.

LD

 

[jon math]

Wow that is a bright blue! Looks like the aqua blue everything in the 1950’s seemed to be covered in. I’m trying to hide the mistakes in this piece; I think the red with lightening might be the better way to do that. I think the solid colors with no wood grain showing really rely on the perfection of the firearm’s architecture to carry the theme out.

 

[Stophel]

I never did understand Clay Smith's blue....

Prussian Blue pigment alone is much darker than his paint. A deep, electric blue. Add linseed oil to make the paint, and it will only get darker.

This is Prussian Blue:

 

[Stophel]

19th century trade guns were sometimes painted black. 17th and early 18th century British muskets and other guns were also sometimes painted black (supposedly, when the "long land pattern" musket was introduced, with its unpainted, non-black walnut stock, it received the name "Brown Bess"). I have seen one 17th century ash stocked wheel lock gun painted brown.

 

[Zonie]

I wonder if the brighter blue could have resulted from mixing Prussian blue with white lead in the linseed?

As you know, white lead was used to add durability and to speed up the drying time for paint.

A mixture such as this would be much lighter or brighter than one just using Prussian blue. :hmm:

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

Them blue stocks are trippy.

Now why was it done?

 

[nhmoose]

All for protection IMHO nothing else.

 

[Artificer]

I agree about the protective property of painting, but I think there was another reason, though I can't document it.

We know smaller numbers of higher quality Trade Guns were made and imported for "Chiefs" and since it went on for quite some time, I think it safe to assume their NA customers appreciated the differences.

I bet someone ordered some blue painted stocks and found they were also popular with their NA customers.

Also, considering some of the wild color combinations people wore in the period, I would not be surprised if the blue painted guns were also popular with some colonists.

Gus

 

[tenngun]

In Europe some seventeenth century civilian arms were painted light blue or red. We see furniture of this time made of fine woods but still painted over. So the eighteenth century painted stocks may have just been a reflection of style.
Blue is a hard color to get in the wild Americas, so as a trade item blue is understandable.

 

[crockett]

What kind of stain are you using? Mini-wax and similar stains aren't to my liking. Go to Woodcrafters and instead of stain get a brown walnut dye. I have never found a piece of wood that won't take such a dye. You'll have a nice walnut colored stock. If the stock is two piece- couple of options, rawhide cover or create a band- like on military muskets- that goes over both stock and barrel. You should end up with a nice looking trade gun.
The museum of the Fur Trade in Chadron, NE is the go-to source for anything pertaining to trade guns. The have a book with black and white photos of various trade guns- $15. If the museum of the fur trade is out of stock call Ft. Robinson and ask their museum. They had a few copies left.

 

[Zonie]

Like crockett says, even difficult to stain wood will be stained if you use an alcohol based stain.

CVA stocks are particularly hard to stain.
The beechwood is close grained and any oil based stains will have little effect on them.

Knowing this, when I recieved this CVA 12 Guage double barrel shotgun kit that had been built by my neighbors father years ago I noticed he did what many tried to do.
He had "stained" (more like painted) the wood with one of the oil based stains and then varnished over it.

I used a paint remover and a lot of sandpaper to get rid of the hideous stuff.

Then, I gave the wood a double treatment of Disk brake cleaner to remove all traces of any oil that might be remaining in the wood.

Following this with 3 coats of Birchwood Casey Walnut stain, available at most gun stores and several hardware stores, the wood "took" the stain nicely and gave me the stock you see in the picture below.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I bet someone ordered some blue painted stocks and found they were also popular with their NA customers.

I wonder how widespread "blue" was as a color preference. I know the Corps of Discovery reported in journals that although they took a variety of colored, glass beads, the blue beads were by far the most esteemed by the various First Nations people that they encountered. Now this is on the Mississippi river and West...., I wonder if it was for the same reason and perhaps the reason
for blue stocked trade muskets in the "Carolinas".
???

:idunno:

LD

 

[tenngun]

Blue is a hard color to get in the wild. I don’t know that North America had a wild blue source before Europeans showed up.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

Blueberries?

Maybe too purple...

 

[tenngun]

When used as a dye it becomes red/ green after wetting.

 

[crockett]

Indigo was the only natural blue dye I know of and was grown in the South Carolina low country.
On the painted stocks of NW Trade guns..... are you sure that is pc? Never heard of it.
I had a real problem with Min-wax- the wood didn't take it. I then used: https://www.woodcraft.com/products/general-finishes-water-based-dye-medium-brown-quart
And what a difference, worked great.

 

[rich pierce]

On the painted stocks of NW Trade guns..... are you sure that is pc? Never heard of it.

As far as I know, painted stocks have been documented for Type G or Carolina trade guns but not NW trade guns, or any French guns.