Northwest tradegun questions

[n stephenson]

I am helping a friend research Northwest tradeguns. He wants to build his as accurately as possible. He has books and plans , etc.   In looking at pics of originals , I`ve seen a few that didn't have the tang screw coming through the TG up into the tang. What tang screw configuration was most common?  Did all , most , or some have a third lock bolt at the rear of the dragon sideplate? or was a woodscrew sometimes used , at the rear of side plate?    I can`t find a close up view of how the brass strip ' muzzle band" was attached . Was it pinned trough both sides with tiny nails , clinched inside the barrel channel , as some muzzle caps were?  Any info is appreciated. Thanks Nate

[Mike Brooks]

You need to buy some books Nate. different makers used different methods and all the details are time period sensitive.

[Clark Badgett]

Like Mike said many of the details are time specific. In general, the side plate bolts were 2 and the 3rd was a wood screw starting in the early 1800s. And most of the earlier versions had the tang bolt from the trigger guard. Like everthing there are exceptions.

[rich pierce]

Nate, I do not have specifics on the muzzle band but am also interested in that. My first guess is a band that goes around the outside and overlaps in the barrel channel and is secured by a through-rivet. I have a big book with scores of pix of NW guns. Maybe we could skype or FaceTime sometime and look at the book together.

[Hudnut]

Earlier guns had the three screw locks.  Two screw locks use a woodscrew to secure the tail of the serpent.
Earlier guns had a tang screw that came up from below, threading into the tang, the head securing the trigger guard.  Later guns had a machine screw from the top, which engaged a trigger plate.
The thin brass band found at the tip of the forend on some guns was a simple strip held in place by the barrel.
Northwest guns were made for a long time, by different contractors, for different companies.
Unless you are copying a specific gun, there are a lot of generalities.
Flint locks could be double, single or unbridled, depending on the company, the contractor and the time period.
NW Coy guns tended to have better locks than HBC guns - until the companies merged.
Same thing with buttplate nails vs screws; when, by whom, for whom.
Guns made for a specific company during a particular period tended to be quite uniform.  The contractors produced them to a specified pattern.
The single best reference book is the one published by The Museum of the Fur Trade.

[elk killer]

Trade Muskets or Northwest Guns work shop manual and patterns is a great reference
Shows full size patterns and good instructions, plus history, 1770 to 1830
Not sure where it's available from had mine for over 30 yes
It's by Pryor MTN Bill Newton

Let me know if your intrrested

[alyce-james]

Sir; Early Frontier Firearms and Trade Guns By Ryan R Gale. Have a great week. AJ.
OOPS--      The Northwest Gun By Charles E. Hanson Jr. 1955 Deluxe Library Edition, is a Special Museum of the Fur Trade Production Number 2. Copyright 1956 By The Nebraska State Historical Society.

[n stephenson]

You need to buy some books Nate. different makers used different methods and all the details are time period sensitive.

I hear ya!   I have never built one of these , nor had a desire to. I was just  trying to get answers to a few details. To help a friend. I have a couple of shelves that have a "scary" sag to them . Laden with longrifle books . I like fowlers better than "most" trade guns.  Nate

[Treebeard]

Trade Muskets or Northwest Guns recommended by elk killer is a tough one to find. I keep looking at various used book sites with no luck so far. If you find one grab it!!

[fahnenschmied]

The nose band is just wrapped around and folded inside the barrel channel.  Its really thin stuff, perhaps fifteen thousanths of an inch.  Often just slapped on the outside.  Sometimes inletted.
  As said before. tang screw up or down depends on the time period, as with buttplate nails versus screws.
   The first things, if you really want to make an "authentic" one - don't make the stock out of curly maple.  Don't use a rifled barrel.  Don't put some stupid giant turtle sight on it. Don't make all the metal pitted.  Don't put an iron buttplate or brass triggerguard on it. So many replicas I see are ruined by a wrong choice of materials or finishes.  Most had european walnut stocks, the cheaper Belgian made copies had beechwood stained to look like good wood, and the American copies had black walnut stocks.
    Its not gonna be easy to make a decent one, nobody makes a really good lock at the moment, and most barrels are far too thick at the muzzle and therefore too heavy.
   Its also best to get a book or two, "For Trade and Treaty" has good photos, and the old Charles Hansen books are good too.

[n stephenson]

Thanks  to everyone , for your input. Nate

[mtlonghunter]

Get the new book on trade guns from the Museum of the Fur Trade. It will take you through 200 years of trade guns.

[Pete G.]

The main thing I noticed when researching was that most of the original barrels were much thinner than those available today.
Seems that most of the guards were held on by the screw coming in from the bottom. Do not forget that these guns were designed and built to be utilitarian and inexpensive. Any method to reduce materials and labor was heartily embraced.