New England fowlers with cast off

[conquerordie]

Has anyone seen any original New England fowlers that have cast off to the stock? I've only been close to three in person. Looking at them from the buttplate foward, 2 appeared to have none, and 1 looked like it had a small amount. All the books I have fail to mention if any original did or did not.
I'm starting a copy of a 1770s fowler and cannot decide if cast off is appropriate. Any thoughts would be of great service. Thanks
Greg

[greybeard]

Greg,. If you are building it  to shoot build it to suit you. If cast works for your body frame  then use it.
    Bob

[WaterFowl]

Greg..Gray Beard hit the nail square....no fit...... no shoot.....Is this one for yourself?
good fit and cheek weld makes a fine shooter.
Good luck if using a straight tapered barrel................. for shooting......Prefer a to octagon to round tapered flared barrel on a fowler.

Jason at Rice bbls.  makes them in 12 and 10 ga...same profile...10 ga. is lighter.
makes for a well balanced smooth bore.
This was a English fowler kit(Dunlaps woodcrafts) based on the "Robins fowler"in your time frame.
balance point is between the hands..Oh Darn!!!!
Zero cast off.

pm me if you want pictures of the original

[smart dog]

Hi Greg,
The concept of cast off and other parameters of gun fit were well known.  However, of the 10-15 original English and American fowling guns I have examined closely, none showed cast off that I could detect at the time.  That said, I remember that the butt stock shaping was not symmetrical on a couple of them.  It seemed, if I am remembering correctly, that while the center line did not curve, the left side (when holding the gun to shoot) was flatter and perhaps, hollowed out slightly, compared with the other side.

dave   

[conquerordie]

Thank you for the replies. Yes this fowler is for myself, and I intend on shooting it. Dan Fruth has made me the most excellent 54 inch tapered and flared round barrel that closely matches the original.
I would like to keep the fowler as historically correct as possible. My blackpowder experience for almost 15 years was with practically one gun. That was a 1728 French musket I built for reenacting from a TRS kit back in 1998. Since then I've expanded into different styles, but shooting without cast off is what I am use to. So I guess I'm willing to go with a stock that some might feel is not as comfortable to shoot as others. To each there own! But I certainly will add cast off if enough originals are seen to have it.
Dave , that's very interesting about having the left side slightly scooped or hollowed out. I'll have to try to find some sort of picture of that. Not sure how to duplicate that. All I can picture is how the French scooped the cheek side of some of their later muskets and carbines. I know that's not what you mean, but I haven't had my coffee yet this morning, and it's all I can picture.
Greg

[Turtle]

 I built one with castoff only because the chosen buttstock would have been a cheek killer and we didn't want to change the profile. I made no claim for authenticity, but it looks right and doesn't hurt the owner. I don't see how they shot some of the original gun designs without pain.
                                            Turtle

[smart dog]

Hi Greg,
Yes, I mean like those later French muskets but to a smaller degree.  The cheek area of the stock was slightly concave or at least flattened, whereas the other side was convex.  It would be like you shaped the butt stock symmetrically on both sides and then scraped the cheek area a little flatter than the other side. 

dave