Show me your fowlers

[Magungo1066]

Have been bitten by the fowler bug. Would love to see what you guys are shooting.

 

[hanshi]

Sure! A .62 X 38" flintlock.

 

[smo]

Tip Curtis 16 gauge 44” Colerain barrel cylinder bore.

 

[Bob McBride]

My 12 bore Eric Kettenburg Bucks County Schimmel. Interesting story. After I got my hands on it I found out Eric wanted it back. He wanted to ‘finish’ it as he built it 20 years or so ago as a ‘three day gun’, or something a gunmaker of the period would have whipped out in a few days using spare or used parts and sold cheap. It has a scraped finish, no sandpaper ever touched the gun, a French round trade gun barrel, and Chambers Early Ketland lock. Anyway, he’s got it back and is adding a buttplate/side plate/bucks nose band/inlet rifle guard/trigger bar. He’s not touching the finish, which is fabulous. I expect it back this month. I’m super excited. She was built as a 14 bore, but as is right and proper, she was shot so much we had her wallowed out to 12. She’s a big ol girl and I miss her....

 

[Magungo1066]

Beautiful everyone! Keep em coming LOL

 

[Cruzatte]

 

[Art Caputo]

My Jack Garner 62 cal Fowler...

 

[Daryl Crawford]

Mine is a simple Larry Cordray .62 cal/20 gauge. Nothing fancy but the shooting it does. Barrel is 41.5" octagon to round.

 

[Eric Krewson]

My 12Ga fowler, Colerain 38" barrel jug choked full, Chambers English round face lock. I built it for turkey hunting and have never had a turkey in front of it. As I have gotten older it seems like every year I mess up some body part and can't go to the woods and chase turkeys. Last Nov I stepped off my 4 wheeler on a small log and badly twisted my ankle, 7 months later it still hasn't healed up properly. Next season perhaps...........

I did go turkey hunting the year I made it, the first picture is from my turkey blind, I shot a coyote that came to the call but didn't see that limb drooped down in front of the barrel that stopped some of the load. I hit the coyote but he ran off.

 

[toot]

would you show more pictures of the turtle shell call. as I assume this is what is setting on the log? if so it is the first one that I have ever seen or heard of ? and if so just how does it work?

 

[RonT]

.570 bore. Spring bird.
Cheers,
R

 

[Prairieofthedog]

would you show more pictures of the turtle shell call. as I assume this is what is setting on the log? if so it is the first one that I have ever seen or heard of ? and if so just how does it work?

Well I'm not Eric but,I can give you a little input on the Turtle shell turkey call.These calls have been around for more than a hundred years,Find a turtle shell,hopefully the owner is dead.I like ones that fit in the palm of my hand comfortably,cut a couple of notches on the shells hinge and put a piece of cedar or slate in the notches.I glue 3 points of the sounding board,front and the 2 side hinges.Use a kids slate chalkboard for the sounding board.These are excellent sounding simple friction calls.The only downfall is they are pretty fragile.Google up Turtle Shell Call,lots of info about them and how to make. They are fun to make!

 

[Keb]

28 ga x 47" lg. Siler lock plain maple wood.

28 ga x 48" Chambers lock, cherry stock. I've changed trigger guard & scraped off the red paint since these pics were taken.

 

[Eric Krewson]

I bought a piece of commercial call slate, put a piece of cardboard in the shell to get an exact tight measurement, shaped the slate to be the same size as the cardboard and slid it into the shell. The shell supports the slate, nothing else was needed to keep it in place, the fit is very tight, it is held solid, it can come loose but is easy to snap back into place.

I tried a wood "slate" first as shown below, it made OK sounds but nothing like the real slate.

You can get a wide variety of sounds depending on where you touch the slate with your striker. I love it!

That said, these calls are illegal in most states, the box turtles are a protected species. Even though I found a long dead empty shell to use, the law is in place to keep some BOZO from killing a box turtle just to use its shell. Getting caught with one of these in Tn or Alabama will end in confiscation and possibly a $300 fine. I only use mine on private land where the chances of being checked is just abut "0".

 

[toot]

Prairieofthdog, great, thank you very much for the come back to my query that I posted! I sure will GOOGLE it now that I know that the calls exist. just where would I get a child's slate / chalk board? I presume that it would have to be slate to make the squeak/ clucking sound? and how would I cut the board to size / fit it to the size of the shell. again thank you.

 

[toot]

Eric Krewson, thank you for showing just how easy it is to make one. is the EASTERN BOX TURTLE the only turtle shell that can be used for this purpose? were they ever used by native Americans first? who would ever think of using such a turtle Shel for such purpose's? I know that INSIANS used turtle shells for RATTLES.

 

[toot]

forgive me for asking, but just what is a WOODEN SLATE. ?

 

[Bearkiller]

Original 1850's English 16 ga

 

[rich pierce]

I’m currently shooting a New England fowling piece I made from TRS 1728 fusil ordinaire parts, restocked in cherry. The buttstock of my blank had soft, rotten areas so it has 2 substantial pieces of new wood pegged and glued on. The fictional back story is that a Vermont militiaman was reloading it when a British ball shattered the buttstock. Being frugal he got it patched when on furlough instead of a complete re-stocking of the re-stocked gun. Pix are over here: New England musket from French fusil parts

A couple

 

[rich pierce]

Last year I finished and sold a fowling piece based on work of Lancaster gunsmith George Fainot. It was more elaborate. 20 gauge, Early Ketland lock, walnut stocked.