Curly Gostomski .62 Fowler Value

[Rudyard]

Toot How many he sold in 12 bore I've no idea other than if one was stocked in beech and bore Birmingham proof marks it would likley be one I made & sold to him. His Lotts made in Italy but from Navy Arms I believe but they put the price up on him so he made his own lock .How many 12 bore barrels he made / modified from Shaw barrels I don't know but most where 20 or 24 bore 36 or 42 or so inch never had a failure at proof I bought 12s and 20 &24 bores bar that one the 12s got used for flint UK guns still got two at least. Is yours a blued barrel ? if it is & is beech wood I can tell you the number underneath the Brl . Cheers Rudyard

 

[Eric Krewson]

Here you go, the picture is a little blurry but you can see the whole mark, looks like a turtle to me.

 

[dave61965]

Here you go, the picture is a little blurry but you can see the whole mark, looks like a turtle to me.
View attachment 19778

That’s exactly what I thought when I first looked at mine, then I got to looking around saw a few stars that looked similar so I reckon maybe it’s a star.

 

[Rudyard]

It was North Star Enterprises Why would think it was a turtle. I believe he stamped his star mark on the master pattern lock plate then it came out fuzzy when new plates were cast from it . Rudyard

 

[dave61965]

It was North Star Enterprises Why would think it was a turtle. I believe he stamped his star mark on the master pattern lock plate then it came out fuzzy when new plates were cast from it . Rudyard

Well suppose you just aquired the gun like i did and were looking for markings to identify the maker and like me, you’ve never heard of North Star and at first glance, yes it slightly resembles a turtle, hence the turtle comments.

 

[Eric Krewson]

Of course it is a blurred image and like looking at clouds it one can make anything out of it.

Here is the way it looks to me through 7 power optivisors, hence the turtle opinion.

 

[Rudyard]

Then it is a reasonable assumption to make, pretty weird turtle though . Still nothing to worry about North Star was mentioned in earlier posts hence I wondered why the confusion . Regards Rudyard

 

[dave61965]

No worries, I actually had never heard of North Star when I first saw the mark on my lock, turtle symbols are fairly prominent in Native American drawings,and Eric really wasn’t far off the mark with his primitive sketch, might have actually been something you come across on a cave wall somewhere.

 

[toot]

RUDYARD, my 12 bore barrel is browned as is all of the hard ware except the serpent witch is brass, and the thimbles, witch are sheet brass. the stock seams to be walnut.it is a dark brown color, course grained and is very dense. hope you can make something out of this? it shoots spot on, hence I have never pushed out the pins that hold the barrel into the stock.

 

[Rudyard]

Dear Toot Well the 12 I made was a lightish coloured Beech the barrel blued by the browning prossess the rest is pretty standard so a pic might help but unless you take the barrel out . No there will be proof marks Crown bp if it has those, the chances are fair. If it hasn't its someone elses make .I only ever made one 12 bore N' West gun. I never' brown' locks but we are talking early 80s it might have got' field rusted' .If the barrel shows milling marks its definatly not my work . Cheers Rudyard

 

[Rudyard]

Toot. Just went through my ledger . The lock was my named . So not the one you have . Mine was number 42 of 1981, its 20 bore mate the next number. Regards Rudyard

 

[springfield art]

Looks very nice. Value and price realized aren’t always the same though.

That's very true!