This is a long overdue post regarding the absolutely beautiful Gentleman’s Fancy New England Fowler made for me in 2020/ 2021 by respected Boston Gunbuilder Jon Rider of Kingsbury Arms. This wonderful big bore flintlock smoothbore, started out as a NE Fowler kit from Chambers in 10 bore with an awesome piece of high grade curly maple. The 46” Rice octagon to round barrel, was jug choked to full by Jason Schneider prior to leaving his shop. The lock now is an impeccably tuned highly engraved Chambers Roundface Fowler Lock (incredibly fast and very easy on flints) and all furniture is brass. With both Jon and I friends and admirers of David Prices decades of crafting breathtaking heirloom flintlock long guns, I had been salivating for some time over his Fancy American Fowler shown on his website…
https://davidpriceflintlocks.com/project-22-fancy-american-fowler/So Jon then set out to recreate that piece as close as possible, to build me a bench copy…while using those online photos only. There were some aspects of that kit that simply had to be altered in order to build a fancy Fowler using a Chambers kit. Once he finally received all parts in late May/ early June 2020…Jon started the build with deleting/ replacing the butt ugly hideous serpent sideplate that Mark Silver chose to put on that Chambers kit he designed for Jim. When attempting to build a higher quality gentleman’s gun, there was no way to put enough lipstick (immaculate engraving) on that pig/ snake…that the snake absolutely had to go, even though that slithering sideplate had already been inlet in the pre-carve stock (see attached photo). So with Jon’s talent, the snake died and became the much more elegant (and very historically correct) sideplate shown here (see photo). Then as the build progressed, Jon began to recreate David Prices magnificent clamshell around the barrel tang…which is truly stunning. The build progressed with me getting photo updates along the way, with often times daily communication between me as the customer and Jon as the master builder. He kept me very well informed of both progress and questions with his ultimate goal ensuring that I ended up with a mid 18th century recreation of heirloom quality. One undoubtedly destined to become one of my dearly cherished family heirlooms, one sure to be passed down to one of my well deserving grandsons in a legacy that I pray will remain unbroken.
I have to say that my overall experience with Jon Rider building me this impeccable Fowler…that each and every step from beginning to end, could not have been more perfect. I could not more highly recommend him as a master gun builder, wood carver extraordinaire and highly skilled artisan engraver with a true gift for creating true art in the form of highly embellished 18th century long guns.
This is a man who, though having extensive experience in very intricate woodworking, actually perfectly recreated Jim Chambers signature early Lancaster found on all his advertisements…being told by some, that he could not possibly do that rifle justice on his “very first build”…
https://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=38972.0 If you follow that 5 page thread, you’ll see the ultimate compliment paid to Jon by Jim Chambers himself, that he had made his own rendition every bit as stunning!
So, in conclusion concerning my NE 10 bore Fowler (actually crafted in Boston) built by master gun builder Jon Rider of Kingsbury Arms…both the experience of dealing with such a talented brilliant artisan and a true man among men, I would rate that as a rock solid 12 on a one to ten scale!! Attached are some other photos, both as the project neared completion and then lastly preparing it for shipment to me here in Alaska. I received it right on schedule as previously agreed, just after New Years 2021. I can very proudly say that it shoots every bit as good as it looks, with both .75” round ball and heavy 2+ ounce shot loads held tight even out beyond 50 yards! Yeah, I know…a fowlers not supposed to have a rear sight! That is except mine, and no it’s not a smooth rifle either. I’m able to paste a decent group with 3/4” balls out to 75 yards at the local resident moose population, and still swing evil fast on those high flying sand hill cranes, swans and geese sucking oxygen as they fly over the sovereign airspace above my cabin! Kingsbury Arms Gentleman’s NE Fowler, a grand slam home run out of the ballpark, Jon…Thank You!!!
