My 1st build ...
I bought a used Sitting Fox Muzzleloaders kit (for $350) from someone who bought it & decided they couldn’t put it together. Working with Ray from SF, I modified the components to a longer (>44”) barrel & a suitable walnut blank w/ no inlet for the lock, since I made mine left-handed; all traded for the RH’d L&R lock from the kit.
For all of my research & all measurements, in early French pouce (inch) & pied (foot) units, I used Russel Bouchard’s book, The Tulle Fusil de Chasse in New France, 1691-1741. I also have Kevin G’s book on the St. Etienne trade fusils, but I stayed with the post-1727 Tulle contract requirements, where I even made up a ruler of the early French measurements.
To get a left-handed lock, slightly banana shaped & 6“ long, my only option was a LH Caywood trade lock, but that is a round face or ‘domed’ lockplate, so I hand-filed it flat then reset the cock to the tumbler; also faceted the pan & added the Tulle ‘A. TVLLE’ mark & the French fleur de lis.
I am still finishing off the ramrod, but I think the rest came out pretty good for my 1st attempt. There are mistakes or ‘lessons learned’, if you look close ... like the teardrop after the lock panel does not align to the tail of the lock. The comb also looks ‘flat‘ in the picture, but there is drop to the stock, it just doesn’t show up too well. Someday I may get another buttplate & inlet it even lower, but believe me, I know more of the errors than any of you will. As well, some of the arms depicted in Bouchard’s book had fairly mild-rounded to flat combs, as these early year models are not the extreme ‘cow’s foot’ or pied de vache style.
She weighs in at 7-1/2 pounds in 62-caliber & it would be lighter if it wore a premium brand barrel with a thinner profile & barrel thickness at the muzzle. The earliest recorded LH French flinter dates to 1730-something... but this being my build and as a lefty, well ... how could I resist, non?
Overall I think I made it pretty trim & svelte, as Alex Efremenko opined (paraphrasing) ”Remove as much wood as you dare, then put it aside. Do that 3 more times & when you think you’ve finally ruined it ... you’re done.”
This NOV I will be taking it up to Anticosti Island in Quebec, where once again ... a Tulle Fusil de Chasse will take to the woods in New France to hunt whitetail deer!
I bought a used Sitting Fox Muzzleloaders kit (for $350) from someone who bought it & decided they couldn’t put it together. Working with Ray from SF, I modified the components to a longer (>44”) barrel & a suitable walnut blank w/ no inlet for the lock, since I made mine left-handed; all traded for the RH’d L&R lock from the kit.
For all of my research & all measurements, in early French pouce (inch) & pied (foot) units, I used Russel Bouchard’s book, The Tulle Fusil de Chasse in New France, 1691-1741. I also have Kevin G’s book on the St. Etienne trade fusils, but I stayed with the post-1727 Tulle contract requirements, where I even made up a ruler of the early French measurements.
To get a left-handed lock, slightly banana shaped & 6“ long, my only option was a LH Caywood trade lock, but that is a round face or ‘domed’ lockplate, so I hand-filed it flat then reset the cock to the tumbler; also faceted the pan & added the Tulle ‘A. TVLLE’ mark & the French fleur de lis.
I am still finishing off the ramrod, but I think the rest came out pretty good for my 1st attempt. There are mistakes or ‘lessons learned’, if you look close ... like the teardrop after the lock panel does not align to the tail of the lock. The comb also looks ‘flat‘ in the picture, but there is drop to the stock, it just doesn’t show up too well. Someday I may get another buttplate & inlet it even lower, but believe me, I know more of the errors than any of you will. As well, some of the arms depicted in Bouchard’s book had fairly mild-rounded to flat combs, as these early year models are not the extreme ‘cow’s foot’ or pied de vache style.
She weighs in at 7-1/2 pounds in 62-caliber & it would be lighter if it wore a premium brand barrel with a thinner profile & barrel thickness at the muzzle. The earliest recorded LH French flinter dates to 1730-something... but this being my build and as a lefty, well ... how could I resist, non?
Overall I think I made it pretty trim & svelte, as Alex Efremenko opined (paraphrasing) ”Remove as much wood as you dare, then put it aside. Do that 3 more times & when you think you’ve finally ruined it ... you’re done.”
This NOV I will be taking it up to Anticosti Island in Quebec, where once again ... a Tulle Fusil de Chasse will take to the woods in New France to hunt whitetail deer!
I have a couple French Tulles, one 20ga and one 16 with another 20 in the works.
