There are still some surprises out there. A couple years ago I saw an ad for a local auction. The sale was for household goods and tools but it also mentioned “old gun parts”. With nothing better to do on a Saturday morning I decided to check it out. You had to see the place to believe it. A 50s vintage mobile home with a house built over it. The trailer stuck out both ends of the house. Inside were piles of old clothes, stained mattresses, and dirty Tupperware. What had once been an attached garage was leaning out from the side at enough of an angle that I was a little concerned about going inside. The garage was full to head high with rusty junk. It smelled really bad inside. In the middle was what had once been a picnic table with rusty cans full of bent rusty nails etc. You get the picture. Lying along the edge of the table was a very long barrel with an original touch hole still intact. OK, now I’m really interested. Standing in the corner was a pile of old shovels, hoes, rakes and buried behind it was a full stock with a big roman nose that appeared to belong to the barrel. Wow. Back to the table and in a cigar box under a bunch of rusty screws was the original flint lock plate with all the original internal parts lying loose among the junk. Big problem, how to get all the parts without alerting the folks who were
obviously there to pick stuff for flea market fodder. One wrong move and a potential bargain was gone. So, the sale starts and I manage to get the barrel without attracting too much attention. The auctioneer called it a rusty pipe. The stock was bought by paying 5 bucks each (take as many as you want) for all the shovels and rakes (about $20 total). The box of “parts” went into a larger box along with some other $#@* and cost another 10. With all my parts in custody away I went. It is, I believe, a flint fowler. The barrel is 51” and appears to be about 54 cal. It is 1” at the breech tapering to about 5/8 at the muzzle. I had to replace a big chunk of wood just above the lock but other than that the completely black stock was intact. During the cleaning operation a very distinct stripe appeared in the wood which I think is probably walnut. The lock appears to be original to the gun. There are no marks at all on the entire gun except for a capital H stamped inside the lock plate. The H has curved sides and looks kind of like a hood emblem for a Honda. So, I am going to make my first attempt to post a picture. If it fails I may need some help to get them up. Appreciate comments from those who are better schooled in fowlers. Thanks, Jack
