This late 18th to early 19th century halfstock flint fowling gun is stocked in walnut and fitted with engraved iron furniture. This fowler is fitted with interchangeable barrels. The barrel installed on the gun is a 20 gauge that was originally rifled, and reamed to smooth. The rifling is still faintly visible after the barrel was reamed to a smoothbore. The second barrel is rifled in .54 caliber. Both barrels have bright well maintained bores. This fowler weights 6.7 pounds with the smooth barrel installed. The 14-3/8" trigger reach is designed to fit today's taller size shooter.
The smooth barrel is 35-1/2'' tapered octagon-to-round with a 12" tapered octagon breech with double wedding band transition to round. The 20 gauge bore measures .625" diameter. The barrel was originally rifled and was reamed to make a smoothbore. However, faint rifling can bee seen running the entire length of the barrel, along with the remains of a coned muzzle. The bore is bright, clean, and has been well maintained. The barrel is finished to a smooth chocolate brown finish. A grotesque face is soldered 1" behind the muzzle and is used as a front sight, with the nose of the face serving as the sight blade. A flat top two leaf rear sight is dovetailed 8-1/2" ahead of the breech. Both leaves fold down and flip up easily. The bottom flat of the barrel is marked JDC No. 1 '95 near the breech.
The second barrel is 33" octagon-to-round with a 12" tapered octagon breech with single wedding band transition to round. The .54 caliber bore is cut rifled with eight equal sized lands and grooves with a slow twist for patched round ball. The bore is bright, clean,, and has been well maintained. The barrel is finished to a smooth chocolate brown finish. A browned iron blade front sight is dovetailed directly behind the muzzle. The back end of the blade has a brass extension soldered onto it to provide a contrast when sighting in low light. A semi-buckhorn rear sight is dovetailed 3-1/4" ahead of the breech. This handmade sight is crudely shaped and the ears of the sight are soldered on the sight base. The bottom flat is marked J. Carp Barrel .54 Cal. near the breech.
The black walnut stock is finished to a medium brown with gloss finish. The stock has many small handling marks from field use. The long ballister wrist fades into the comb, in early English style. The buttplate is wide and tall to spread the felt recoil over a large area. The buttplate has a long English style comb with a few accents of hand engraving with a flower and decorative border. All of the iron furniture has an antique patina finish. The English style hooked breech allows the barrels to be dismounted for easy cleaning and interchanging. To dismount the barrel, place the lock on half cock, close the frizzen, remove the ramrod, drift the wedge key past the underlug with a small wood or brass drift and the barrel can be lifted from the stock for easy cleaning. The short tang is lightly engraved with a floral pattern and is surrounded by raised carving with crisp clean lines. The single key passes directly through the stock without the use of escutcheons, and we note the barrel channel is bedded.
The rounded toe of the butt is an extension of the ballister wrist, when viewed from below. We note a series of larger dings along the toe line of the buttstock. A loop for a sling swivel is fitted in the toe of the buttstock, and a matching loop is soldered to the rear ramrod pipe of the shotgun barrel. The triggerguard has an engraved acorn final. The bow and scroll of the triggerguard are neatly engraved with the same floral design found on the rest of the gun. The forearm is fitted with a horn forend cap. An engraved entry pipe with short pointed skirt is fitted directly behind the horn forend cap. Each barrel has its own wooden ramrod, and we note the rear end of both ramrods has a cross hole drilled, which allows the user to insert a small rope to assist when pulling a stuck load. The shotgun ramrod is fitted with a flared brass loading tip threaded to accept 10-32 cleaning and loading accessories. The rifle ramrod is fitted with a brass tip with 10-32 threads. The ramrod pipes are browned on the shotgun barrel, while the rifled barrel has longer pipes that are polished bright. No cheek is formed on the buttstock and the single lock bolt passes through a simple washer style sideplate.
The L&R John Bailes flint lock is a copy of a fine London made lock, of the style commonly imported by American longrifle makers for use on their best rifles. Correct in every detail, notice the semi-waterproof pan with rain gutters to drain moisture away from the priming. An anti-friction roller on the toe of the frizzen rides over a cam on the frizzen spring, for snappy action. The frizzen spring has a concealed mounting screw, installed inside the lock plate. We recommend our 5/8" knapped English flints, #FLINT-ENG-5, for use with this lock. The lock has been fired blued and the tail is engraved with a quill pen and open book marked 1995. The stainless steel vent is perfectly positioned slightly above the pan's center on both barrels, to serve as a window to admit the intense light and heat of the incandescent flash of the priming. The old London gun makers were masters. They understood practical physics, and we can learn much from them. The single trigger provides a smooth release of the lock.
This flint fowling gun has a late 18th to early 19th century appearance. The interchangeable barrels will give the user the option of wing shooting and big game hunting. Order it for a ten day visual inspection. You will be delighted. Else if it does not fit you, return it in unfired condition for same-day refund. Postage is your only risk, when you order any one-of-a-kind gun from Track, whether new, used, or antique.
