[Guest]

Thought it was time to start rebuilding the long-gun section here. So I'll start off with my favorite smoothbore...
Hopefully some others will join in with picks of their guns...

J.P. Beck Fowler...by J.P. Searles
J.P. Beck was a famous gunsmith in Pennsylvania who made rather heavy Germanic or "transitional" designs which became symbolic of his work.

JP Gunstocks made many rifles in this basic stock and most of them had 42 inch barrels and were 50 or 54 caliber. They started making these fowlers like mine in the mid 1990's. My gun, is their first "canoe gun" with a 30 inch barrel which they made specifically in response to a request for a shorter fowler for partridge hunting in the Maine puckerbrush. I have seen other manufactures' canoe guns with even shorter barrels but not with this kind of stock. Most of them use a Northwest Trade Gun type of stock which is lighter,has less drop at the butt, and is easier to manufacture. This gun has an L & R Queen Anne round faced english lock and presentation grade curly maple stock.

giz



Transmission ends,
Lord Slashcat

 

[Lord Slashcat]

A fine flintlock ,to be sure!

 

[xtimberman]

Love your flint fowler, Giz!

Here are a few photos of an 1860s Belgian Francotte 14ga SxS perc. fowler:

It has 36" barrels and I've been told that it might've been a snipe or shorebird gun for collecting feathers for ladies hats. It does have crude little long-beaked shorebirds engraved on the locks - and a savage (?!?!) brandishing a longarm while astride a rampant pony on the triggerguard - also engraved in naive 19th Century style. I've written Francotte for information, but they're not interested in chasing down their heritage - just selling expensive new shotguns.

xtm

 

[xtimberman]

Thought I'd add these pix of another smoothbore fowler from the old forum.

Wm & Jn Rigby - Dublin - 12ga. ML SxS ~1843 - cased with accessories - 30" croille damascus barrels

Back-action sidelocks shown with some of the breech-cleaning tools

The firearm is covered with engraved Celtic patterns like this "endless knot" design and bucolic scenes with dogs. An unusual feature - the lower tang extends in one piece from the wrist all the way to the entry pipe for the ebony ramrod and the trigger guard is attached to the tang with internal screws.

xtm

 

[Lord Slashcat]

Nice Rigby! I especially like those platinum blowout plugs.