I finally finished my latest project: a colonial era New England-made flintlock fowler, .62cal. I hope I adequately captured the look and feel.
In true colonial fowler fashion, it was built from a variety of new and used parts. The tapered octagon-to-round barrel and ramrod pipes came from a 20th century Belgian trade musket with a worn out lock. The lock and Fusil de Chasse stock are from Pecatonica. The butt and trigger guard are from Track of the Wolf. I made the horn rammer tip myself.
I got the stock for a bargain. Pecatonica offered me a curly maple stock discounted to a plain stock price because of a bark inclusion, so I took a chance. Why not? Many colonial fowlers were far from perfect. Well, the inclusion just about disappeared when I shaped the stock, and the curl is gorgeous!
Overall, this was a good test of my abilities, with challenges all along the way. The barrel channel came inlet for a 3/4" round barrel, and I had to extensively enlarge it for this one. I fully inlet the lock and butt myself, modifying the butt tang to add a unique touch.
The barrel and lock were polished, then grayed with naval jelly. I had to plug the old touch hole and drill a new one to align with the pan. Finish is Fiebrings Burgundy leather dye, Watco Danish Oil, and Howard's Feed-n-Wax.
Is it perfect? No. But I hope it is found to be acceptable.
