[Gizamo]

How to begin...

This may be a bit of a swansong post for the S&W sections and the Other Revolvers through long-guns. Summer is the time for the Flintlocks and the Percussion guns to come out. I'm set to attend my first Rendevous this May and hope for at least one more this Summer. Been planning a Walking shoot for our range early in the Fall. A few of the members here are attending that one. Other then the weekly steel plate shoots ~ my interest in centerfire anything is as low as it gets. I'm sure the BPCR's will get there fair share of attention ~ but they are shot in Black Powder

Today, I picked up my first high-end English Fowler. The pics will never do the gun justice. You'd need studio lighting to get it right. So I'm posting some pics of it as found and after LordSlashcat and I put a few downrange today. It will be cleaned up later, and made presentable

This is a Caywood English 20 Gauge Fowler. You can shoot ball or shot from it. Either way, it is quick and lively ~ and very accurate. This one is a bit of an oddball in that it is a Caplock instead of a Flintlock. And it has the appearance of a historically correct conversion. You have to understand the meaning of that. The Caywood brothers make every piece of the gun. Wood and metal come in ~ but barrels, locks, stocks...are all hand made by them. So this lock is a mix of castings, hand forgings, and intricate work. Frankly, not many of them were ever made. Almost all parts on the gun are of interest. The barrel is octogon going to round and wedding banded at the change. Make no mistake that this is a Fowler, but has front and rear sights hand made by the makers. Engraving is evident everywhere.

So now I finally have a proper Fowler to go with my Wheeler .36 rifle...and much of the Summer will be spent between the two.

giz

 

[Cush]

Giz, that looks WAY too nice to bring out in the duck blind. You'd better stick to upland game for that one! :lol:

Nicely done. That's a beauty!

 

[Gizamo]

Cush,

We will shoot this one together some day...

Nice to have a gun that President's Reagan and Bush owned, one that Mike Huckabee shoots, and folks like Clint Eastward enjoy...

giz

 

[xtimberman]

Really nice find! I'm wanting more photographic details! :lol:

I agree with you about the conversion - the shape and length of that percussion lock plate has flint written all over it, also the long "reach" of the hammer to the drum and nipple. There is even a forward flat area that would've accomodated an external frizzen spring. Does close examination reveal a small plugged hole? The work may have been started as a very late flintlock that was finished in-house to perc. to sell to a buyer who wanted the modern ignition system. A drum and nipple threaded into the flash hole was a quick and easy conversion back then.

Are you guessing ~1825-1835? The overall shape of the buttstock looks early English percussion era to me - meaning that it looks to have "modern" 19th century stock dimensions - rather than having the more exaggerated dimensions of many 18th century English flinters.

Most of the English single barrel fowlers I've seen are half stock. Finding a full stock example is a real score! That might also indicate that it was originally built for a North American purchaser. (?)

xtm

 

[Gizamo]

xtm....

That is the true Beauty of a Caywood...

They are a modern gun, made by a family. One brother does the locks...and pays the devil in the details. That Flint to Cap conversion is one of their creations. Everything about one of their guns is enough to make a expert wonder Never expected a 41 1/2" gun to be so light and lively...

giz

 

[xtimberman]

You really got me on that one! :?

Even the engraving is early 19th century English form!

Might look newer in person, but it sure looks nearly 200 years old in the pix. The wood did have me wondering, though... how did a nice piece of North American maple find its way over there...and to not show a single dent!

xtm

 

[Gizamo]

xtm....

To shoot it is even more amazing. There is a barrel for the nipple where the old Flintlock charging hole would be. The nipple is for a musket...and when you think of it ~ that makes sense. Caywood does a funnel shaped opening and the barrel (think nipple barrel) matches the wide end of the conical. Ignition is instantaneous...

Best part is that Danny Caywood started out as a knifemaker What do you wanna bet that the giz is hitting the pavement on that one :mrgreen:

giz