poor boy /barn gun lock???

[JOHN F]

hey guys working on a smoothie barn gun for a farmer milita impression early to mid rev war....have decided on a chambers round face english lock..was wondering about some engraving on it..really like ot get fred forge 1776 on it but dont think it would be applicable for a farmer fowler..thought about getting "wilson "engraved on it and possbilly the crossed arrows on the tail ,like an early trade lock...any thoughts or ideas guys???thanks

 

[Cheyenne]

If it's for reenacting, then probably the Wilson marking....if it's mainly for yourself, then it wouldn't matter....depends on how HC/PC you want to be.

T'were me, I'd use the Wilson mark. :thumbsup:

 

[Mike Brooks]

I'd have it engraved with typical English export style engraving.

 

[J.D.]

Did Wilson make barn guns?

 

[JOHN F]

Mike do you mean some scrolls and no Wilson?

 

[Mike Brooks]

Yep

 

[Stophel]

I believe very strongly that a "barn gun" of this period would be a total fantasy gun. Now, a slapped-together wartime musket using various parts would be a different animal... :wink:

 

[Zonie]

Ya mean farmers during that period didn't have "barn guns"?

I would have thought that at least some of them would have a old smoothbore laying around seeing as how it could be used to take some local water fowl for some good eating during the migration or to dissuade a hungry fox that was scheming on the chickens.

Come to think of it, an old barn gun could also be used to turn a corn eating deer into a tasty dinner.

A "fantasy gun"! Who knew?

Course I am assuming that some non military style of English locks might have been imported into the colonies prior to the start of the war when I try to think about what could have become a barn gun. :hmm:

 

[Stophel]

"Barn gun" in popular usage meaning Buttplateless, sideplateless, uncarved, very plain (yet always VERY well smoothed and finished... :grin: ) guns.

Someone in Delaware in the 1770's might have the common or garden variety English import gun...with all the normal hardware. Or a locally produced version of much the same thing. :wink:

Although "Flies Only" did not specifically say so, his question was worded in a way that indicated that he was interested in something with some historical correctness, or so that was how I took it. :wink:

 

[JOHN F]

stophel, i guess my terminologoly was off a little .. i was refering to a fowler that a person "of lesser means"would have had. so i figured a well used possiblty recycled parts that would be indicateive of a farmer in the upper mid atlantic /penns region...do appreciate all the help though....keep the ideas coming...

 

[Capt. Jas.]

.. i was refering to a fowler that a person "of lesser means"would have had. .

Carolina gun style import or other cheap fowling piece.

 

[Mike Brooks]

I just built what you're planing to do.
Cpl Crispin's "Librty" gun
These were built right at the beginning and probably through out the Rev war as each man 16 to 60 was to have a gun and ammunition. These were built as cheaply as possible, many times to fill the gun requirement for large families with several military age men in the family. There are several examples in Grinslade's book and Whisker's book also. A handfull have survived, so they were probably made in some numbers. They have nothing to do with barns.

 

[Waterman]

Mike,

I wish you would stop doing that. Every time you post one of your guns I drool all over my keyboard.

Cheers, Bill

 

[smoothy]

Be careful of your use of the term "barn gun", I have been burnt on this forum with its use. It appears you are more interested in what can be done in the way of building a smoothbore that a person of lesser means would have, more than a gun to shoot barns with as some would comment on. I also built a smoothbore in '99 along the lines you are looking at, except I wasn't as informed as yourself, nor did I communicate with others on the period correctness of it. My fowler has an English lock and trigger guard, Germanic rifle style buttplate (though rounded at the bottom), a French s-shape side plate, fancy ramrod pipes, and otherwise plain. My idea was a gun made up of pieces from worn out firearms a gunsmith would have available to build for a person of lesser means. Some parts I made myself like the trigger and side plate. It has a crudeness about it that others may not approve of, wanting to have and see only the prettiest of guns. However, look at the link below of some original American Revolutionary War smoothbores. Some look even more crude than one I built. I ran across this web site in the last year and feel vindicated that what I built isn't far off the mark for period correctness. http://www.11thpa.org/neumann.html

 

[Mike Brooks]

Be careful of your use of the term "barn gun", I have been burnt on this forum with its use. It appears you are more interested in what can be done in the way of building a smoothbore that a person of lesser means would have, more than a gun to shoot barns with as some would comment on. I also built a smoothbore in '99 along the lines you are looking at, except I wasn't as informed as yourself, nor did I communicate with others on the period correctness of it. My fowler has an English lock and trigger guard, Germanic rifle style buttplate (though rounded at the bottom), a French s-shape side plate, fancy ramrod pipes, and otherwise plain. My idea was a gun made up of pieces from worn out firearms a gunsmith would have available to build for a person of lesser means. Some parts I made myself like the trigger and side plate. It has a crudeness about it that others may not approve of, wanting to have and see only the prettiest of guns. However, look at the link below of some original American Revolutionary War smoothbores. Some look even more crude than one I built. I ran across this web site in the last year and feel vindicated that what I built isn't far off the mark for period correctness. http://www.11thpa.org/neumann.html[/quote]
This book:
FLINTLOCK FOWLERS
Has nothing but North American Colinial fowlers in it, most made from recycled parts. Some are very nice, some are not so nice.

 

[smoothy]

That book is on my Christmas wish list. I was looking forward to it before it became available. It has escaped me for a few years now as other priorities have taken up my time/money.

 

[JOHN F]

smooth- thnaks for the help .i have that book and it is really nice..i like the conglomeration of parts that would be indicative of a farmer.. being the son of a farmer i have seen my dad "modify"equipement to fit his tractors and likewise with parts on the machinery...hardship does breed ingenuity :wink:
mr brooks-just when i think i made a pretty gun you post another new one .....damn i like that liberty gun.. does the stock have a little french influence???really like the wear and tear :bow:

 

[Mike Brooks]

damn i like that liberty gun.. does the stock have a little french influence???

Thanks.
Yes, It's a new England gun and NE guns were heavily influenced by French guns.

 

[Stumpkiller]

IMHO a barn gun then was like a barn gun now. Something 75 years old and mostly used up that is too worn out to worry about or a reconfiguration of salvaged parts.

Not something made new but stripped out.

Mr. Farmer: "I want you to make me something cheap."

Mr. Gunsmith: "I charge pretty good for new guns. I might have just what you need over here in the corner I put together from odds and ends by my apprentice just before he died of ague."

Mr. Farmer: "Still too pretty and too much, the barn has a leaky roof and mice."

Mr. Gunsmith: "Well, there was this trade-in that I was using for a tomato stake. Just don't tell anyone where you bought it."

Mr Farmer: "That's the one!"

 

[smoothy]

Mr. Farmer: "I want you to make me something cheap."

Mr. Gunsmith: "I charge pretty good for new guns. I might have just what you need over here in the corner I put together from odds and ends."

Mr. Farmer: "That's still too much for me."

Mr. Gunsmith: "There isn't much I can do for you. Do you own a gun now?"

Mr. Farmer: "I have my great grandpappy's old musket, but the barrel is bent and the stock is broke at the wrist."

Mr. Gunsmith: "Bring it in and maybe I can do something with some of the parts. How much of your money can you part with? And how about one of your fattened hogs?"