New England Style Club Butt Flintlock Fowler (AL6987)

This is an early New England style dog lock, club butt fowler. The overall length is approx. 59.75". The 43.75" octagon to round 71 caliber smooth bore barrel has a fair bore with moderate roughness. It has an even dark brown patina. It has a small brass blade front sight and a sighting groove on the barrel tang. There is an impresd proof on the barrel which appears to be HL with a fer de lis between the letters. The 5 15/16" long dog lock and cock have light edge lines. The iron pan has erosion in the bottom next to the touch hole. The lock and cock are a mixture of gray and brown. The four brass ramrod thimbles, trigger guard, and butt plate have an even age patina. The butt plate heel is worn and broken and repaired due to heavy use. The ramrod is present. The stock is good with missing wood alont the barrel on both sides toware the muzzle, an old repaired crack at the front of the lock, stable age cracks at the two forward lock screws, and moderate use wear. Based on the inconsistent spacing of the first two ramrod thimbles, it appears that the barrel was shortened 6" during its period of use. This was not unusual as improvements in black powder negated the need for extremely long barrels. In addition, the crude style and construction of the trigger guard points to a gun that was assembled in the Colonies. The dog lock action is a little touchy but it does function correctly (and you're not going to shoot it anyway!). Flintlock fowlers of this type are rare.