New Guy Needs Help with Identification of Left Hand Fowler

[Slotcar]

Hi Folks. I am new to the forum as I was pointed this way from a member on the Flintlock Era Facebook page.

I acquired this left handed fowler from an auction and the only thing supposedly known is that it came from an old estate in Mass.

I figured since it had some unique features (LH, muzzle "blast/ball" engraving, gold inlay at breech) that hopefully someone here might be able to point me in the right direction as to a possible maker/origin.

It does have something that looks like a stamped name on the barrel but I can't quite make it out. Again, hoping that someone here might have seen similar?

In any case, it is a beautiful piece that I picked up for a what I think is a good deal and I am hoping to just find out a little more about it and expand my limited knowledge of flintlocks in the process.

Thanks in advance for any assistance and let me know if there are any other pictures that might help...

[Slotcar]

[54ball]

IMHO That's a contemporary build with an original right handed barrel. Enlarged the old vent/drum location is visible on the right side.(sometimes vents were drilled from the opposite side but I still feel this was a right handed barrel)
 Too, curly maple is not the most common wood for a NE gun. Cherry seems to be the most common.  Maple is used a lot for everything in contemporary builds. It just looks too new .All point to a recent build with old parts in my opinion.

 With that said it is a spectacular gun with value.

[Mike Brooks]

The barrel and rigger guard date from the 1820's.  The barrel looks English and the trigger guard could be Belgian. Everything else is new.

[Slotcar]

Given the opinions that this is a contemporary build utilizing old parts, what might be a range of value if I were to list it as I am not too interested in holding on to it given the idea that it is not a period piece. I picked it up as it was a good deal and thought maybe it could be an investment for one of my daughter's college fund 🤑

I will now probably look for a rifle...something that I can hunt with just to keep them fed until they go off to college. 😏

[Hungry Horse]

The sad part in this gun is it appears to to be nicely built, but with a total lack of regional,or  time period, styling. The stock wood is quite nice, and the stock doesn't have that plump look most reproduction guns have.

  Hungry Horse

[Howard]

Keep this in mind as it is only my opinion. When I buy a old Kentucky I buy it because I like it & it talks to me, I never buy it thinking that I can resell it to make money. These guns are all over the map since the old collections are flooding the market.  I have no idea on what anything is worth anymore.  Buy what you like & what you can afford & enjoy it.

[Bob Roller]

Keep this in mind as it is only my opinion. When I buy a old Kentucky I buy it because I like it & it talks to me, I never buy it thinking that I can resell it to make money. These guns are all over the map since the old collections are flooding the market.  I have no idea on what anything is worth anymore.  Buy what you like & what you can afford & enjoy it.

Absolutely. I also have little knowledge of what anything is worth so I rely on the "Willing seller and a willing buyer" system.
In another America,the one I grew up in I preferred the products of the independent car maker,Packard and owned 5 of them over
a period of time.I know what I like and that is my idea of commerce.

Bob Roller

[Brent English]

I agree with everything said about it, except the sad part.  I like it.  It's a nice looking gun make for an enthusiast by a good stocker using old parts.  You might say it's an excellent interpretation of what would happen if an good American gunsmith was asked to restock some European parts to make an attractive shooter "back in the day". 

I do think it's value lays in being a shooter though, so bore condition means a lot.  I'm going out on a limb and going to say if the bore is bad or unsafe, it's a $400-500 curiosity.  If the bore is good and you can find a lefty it will fit and wants it, I think $1200-$1500 might be a fair price.   If lock was on the right side, I'd be in the price range as a buyer.

Do you care to tell us what you paid for it?

[smokinbuck]

Doesn't really matter what he paid for it, but what he thinks it may be worth on the market. Value is in the eye of the beholder and the seller.
Mark