Comparing two French Fusil builds

[Bob Gerard]

Today I finished the second Fusil, a French Trade Gun, ('Type D"). It was a compilation of parts provided by Clay Smith. The stock is Walnut, the lock is from Larry Zornes and the barrel is from the Mold and Gun Shop. The stock was pre-carved and the parts needed proper fitting, as usual. But I had no issues with this build (except for wrecking the first butt plate).
I have had no exposure to French trade guns previous this build and didn't know what to expect. I immediately noticed differences between it and the Fusil de Chasse I recently made (parts from Pecatonica). The butt stock is straighter with less swoop than the Fusil de Chasse. The barrel is certainly much more narrow at the muzzel than the Colerain of the Fusil de Chasse, and the Trade Gun's barrel is tapered and, though wider at the breech, is much, much lighter and balances nicely.
Also, the lock on the Trade Gun is much heftier. I have not fired the gun yet but I think the lock will be fast and strong.
The Trade Gun had a lot of wood to remove on the forestock- the web was thicker than I would like, so I slimmed the forestock and exposed more than half of the barrel profile, as well as the ramrod. It certainly helped give the Trade Gun a more slim look.
The weight of both guns is similar- the Fusil de Chasse is 7 pounds, and the Trade Gun is at 6.5 pounds.
I finished the stock of the Trade Gun first with a light application of Boiled Linseed Oil and then after several days applied wiping varnish (3 sessions). It has a lovely color I think. The Fusil de Chasse is Curly Maple which I dyed dark and then applied Wiping Varnish and after thoroughly curing for three weeks cave it a nice Renaissance wax topcoat.
I am going to post better pictures of the Fusil Trade Gun soon, and hope to fire it in a week as the varnish cures.
Finally, a special thanks to Mike Brooks for taking the time to give me advise and direction with this build. Good people here 
 

[Tim Ault]

I likem both !  Well done .  Certainly is a big difference in barrel thickness . Is the thick one a colerain ?

[Bob Gerard]

Yes, the thick one is a Colerain. It's 42" long- the other barrel is 41".

[Bushfire]

Beautiful gun, I have an affinity for darker woods so I know my preference but they are both beauties.

[Daryl]

I've seen 20bore with the heavier barrel at rendezvous along side the thinner walled barrels. In handling the guns which look very similar except for the thicker barrel walls,
I do like the extra weight of the heavier barrels for standing shooting patched round balls, but the thinner walled barrel guns swing much nicer on birds.  6 of one, 1/2 doz. of the other.
 I do like the butt architecture better, of the darker wood gun, however, I prefer the lighter wood gun's butt plate design.

[Bob Gerard]

One interesting thing about these two guns is that the balance point for the thinner barreled (41" long) Trade Gun is 7 inches forward the breech, with a pull length of 13.75”; the heavier Colerain barreled (42" long) Fusil de Chase has a balance point at 8.5" from the breech with a 14.5” pull.
Both seem very easy to point and both are quite light at under 7 pounds.

[Mike Brooks]

You did a great job on these. They look great. If you would like to have a discussion on what original French  guns were like id be happy to talk about it. There are no correct French guns available on the market today.

[Bob Gerard]

Wow- thank you, Mike. I am truly honored.
I would certainly like to discuss French guns with you- there is so much to learn. From my very limited experience and from constructive feed-back I can see what you mean about historical correctness of market products.
Best regards,
Bob

[Not English]

Mike and Bob, I'd certainly be interested in a discussion of Fusils. There does not seem to be a lot of information that's easily available.

[Hungry Horse]

  Many American Revolutionary War muskets the rebels carried were made from French parts. A lot of these guns were a mixture of parts from French muskets of all ages.
 Since my mothers family not only served, and died, in that conflict, but also restocked guns for the rebel forces, it seems only right to build one of these guns for myself.
 I have acquired a birds eye maple blank, a 1766 Charleville lock, and a French trigger guard that looks like a fancy version of the guard used on traditional muskets, except its more elaborate and has a bolster for a sling swivel. I also have a round 12 gauge barrel 41” long. I saw a Brown Bess restocked for the Revolutionary War in curly maple, in a club butt stock contour, and thought I might do that to my French musket.
 Because of the stock design I will have to make my own butt plate. Any design ideas?

  Hungry Horse

[Clark Badgett]

HH, If I'm not mistaken, there were Colonial made muskets that were basically copies of English muskets that used various parts from French muskets that were left over from the F-I War. Even on up past the War of 1812 various captured and gifted European muskets we still being repaired issued. I would look it up, but a lot of my books have made their way into boxes for the pending move.