Early Bucks County fowler

[Dan Fruth]

   This fowler has been on the James Julia web page for some time. I was searching early fowlers and ran across it, and thought I'd post the link. It appears to be a smooth rifle, and well executed. This is one I have not seen before, but is certainly worth a discussion....Dan
http://jamesdjulia.com/item/lot-2369-outstanding-pre-revolutionary-relief-carved-american-fowler-attributed-to-p-kunz-in-lehigh-county-pa-49680/

[Eric Kettenburg]

Very interesting piece, very cool and funky carving but it's certainly not pre-Revolutionary and the majority of the description is quite...embellished.  You know, like when you want to find connections and will seriously stretch to find them!

[Spinner]

I'm interested in why Julia calls it a "Fowler" when it has a rear sight.

[rich pierce]

We'd call it a smooth rifle. It reminds me of RCA 59 architecturally and there are some carving similarities too. Does not appear to be the "double tick" builder highlighted in Shumways Muzzle Blasts article July 1996 though it has architectural similarities to the later gun in that article. 

To me it's silly to think that such an evolved longrifle architecture distinct from contemporaneous European guns would be attributed to the 1760s.

[Seth Isaacson]

That is about the vaguest condition statement I have seen! Their descriptions on this stuff is very hit or miss. I've seen guns with massive restoration work including large splices in the wood that they claimed were all original and others that had very honest and accurate condition statements including specifically calling out the cracks, repairs, etc.

[Eric Kettenburg]

Yes, I've been severely questioning the motives and/or knowledgeability of many of their descriptions the past couple of years.  I know multiple people who have received pieces which were significantly different than described.  Most recently a good friend received what I would best describe as a very large crack with a fowler around it.  One thing I can say about them, though, is that they are very willing to stand behind their mail-order auction pieces and will take them back as returns if represented incorrectly.

[Seth Isaacson]

I think it just depends on who they have working on them. Many people who don't regularly work with long rifles and related firearms could easily miss-date them and miss some of the alterations. If I recall correctly, they had one of the heads of the Kentucky Rifle Association write some of them up in the past. Most of those seemed honestly and accurately described aside from a few more subtle repairs that went unmentioned. The descriptions were also more detailed.

[oldtravler61]

   Anybody notice what looks like two screw heads. They are right an left of the tang. Or is it my old eye's.   Mike

[rich pierce]

Aside from the description, does anyone have ideas about when and where it was made and similarities to other Bucks County or Lehigh originals?

[PPatch]

   Anybody notice what looks like two screw heads. They are right an left of the tang. Or is it my old eye's.   Mike

There is a screw to the left of the tang (I don't see one on the right) a little forward of the tang bolt, looks like the lock bolt split the wood above it. Looks like an old repair.

dave

[Dan Fruth]

I agree with Rich....Check out the trigger scrool and fancy file work on #59 and this piece...Look almost identical...All in all I really like it, a real "funky-folky" piece.