Curlys .72 caliber north west trade gun

[Rifleman1776]

any one who had the pleasure of knowing CURLY & ERMA. will never forget them. they are both gone but will never be forgotten! after he died I be leave that it was picked up by NORTH STAR WEST, and they only made 20 gauge ones? I maybe wrong, and I think that they are gone now?

I heard that NSW people are his children. Dunno for certain, though.

 

[Juice Jaws]

NEVER EVER camp next to him and his crew. Made that mistake back in the early 80's. They stay up and drink all night and sleep all day. Most of that old crew have probably passed on by now.

Those were the days, have one of his 62, people don't roovoo like we use to in the old days.

 

[Jhightow]

Anywhere we can see some pictures of these 12 bore trade guns? At 4.5lbs, I imagine they're right slim

 

[Comfortably_Numb]

Anywhere we can see some pictures of these 12 bore trade guns? At 4.5lbs, I imagine they're right slim

They look just like the 20 bores except with a very light 12 bore barrel instead.

 

[Jhightow]

They look just like the 20 bores except with a very light 12 bore barrel instead.

I see! Just looked up some on Google and I can see why they're talked about so highly. Looks like a joy to shoot with lighter loads.

 

[bud in pa]

I picked a book on shotgun gunsmithing many years ago. I don't recall the authors name (sometimes i have trouble remembering my name) but he worked out of Selma Alabama. He listed loads for English shotguns from the late 19th & early 20th centuries. It seems that we in the USA are afflicted with "magnumitis". I checked out his recommendations for the 20 gauge, since that is what I have. The optimum load was 7/8ths oz. of shot and roughly 70 gr. of 2f. I use 60 gr. of 3f. good enough for rabbits & squirrels. I don't know about grouse & pheasants haven't seen them in about 15 years.

 

[Rawhide67]

I stumbled on my Curley gun a few months ago, at an auction. They had it listed as a "Brown Best".

I realized from pics it was a trade gun of some kind, went to the preview, realized what it was, and got it pretty reasonable at the auction.

 

[waksupi]

any one who had the pleasure of knowing CURLY & ERMA. will never forget them. they are both gone but will never be forgotten! after he died I be leave that it was picked up by NORTH STAR WEST, and they only made 20 gauge ones? I maybe wrong, and I think that th. ey are gone now?

It went through a couple other owners before Matt took it over. I built all the NSW guns the last couple years of production. Other bore sizes were available. Matt had to close down due to health issues.

 

[toot]

now we know the rest of the story! and with all of the trouble with the LOTT LOCKS, when they were sent back to NSW, he replaced them for gratis.

 

[SBJ]

any one who had the pleasure of knowing CURLY & ERMA. will never forget them. they are both gone but will never be forgotten! after he died I be leave that it was picked up by NORTH STAR WEST, and they only made 20 gauge ones? I maybe wrong, and I think that they are gone now?

Yes, Matt Dennison sold Northstar West Last year, due to health reasons. Rick Tabor, out of Lebanon, Oregon, and Mike Keller bought all the excess parts. Rick is currently waiting on stocks, and is going to be building 36" x .62 caliber guns soon.

 

[toot]

thank you for that follow up information on the end of the company. so I guess that any one that needs help with parts will get into contact with them when all is sorted out?

 

[Colonial Boy]

I heard that NSW people are his children. Dunno for certain, though.

I’m intrigued by that statement, I met Curly and I live in NSW.

 

[Smokey Plainsman]

I stumbled on my Curley gun a few months ago, at an auction. They had it listed as a "Brown Best".

I realized from pics it was a trade gun of some kind, went to the preview, realized what it was, and got it pretty reasonable at the auction.

Lol “Brown Best Musket Loader Rifle” I’ve seen such things like that and it makes me chuckle.

 

[springfield art]

Sooo through an interesting twist of fate I reached out to a gentleman who is on the forum bc if something he said about a gun from a couple years back. He said he had a .72 caliber north west trade gun made by Curly, and Curly told him that he only made 10 of those guns bc people didn’t really want the .72 they wanted the .62s. Iv had my trade gun for a little while now and assumed it was a gun Curly made but wasn’t completely sure, so I reached out to toot and asked him to describe his gun. I told him that I too have a .72 caliber NW Trade gun and the gun I have lined up exactly to what he had! So I sent over some pictures and he verified. So if the story is true and Curly only made 10 of these guns in this caliber it would be interesting to see if anyone else might have one of the 10! Seems like we know of where two of em are and I figured if anyone on the internet would have one they would probably be here hahah so does anyone know of or possibly own one of these guns??

I have what I believe to be a Curly from auction recently, it seems to want a patched .690 cal. ball but I'd have to "caliper" it again to be sure about actual bore size. Those inexpensive Harbor Freight micrometers are a god-send to us gun nuts.

 

[beardedhorse]

Built a smoothbore with of Curly's 12 gauge barrels. Don't think it was .72 caliber. Most smoothbores take a round ball .020 smaller. 60 caliber balll for .62 or 20 gauge. I've used .715 round balls in my Curly Sitting Fox barrels on four whitetail bucks and countless birds. So are his 12 gauge barrels closer to .730 caliber? He was a legendary character. Was at Ft. des Chartres many years ago I think. Stories of running whiskey during prohibition.

 

[springfield art]

now we know the rest of the story! and with all of the trouble with the LOTT LOCKS, when they were sent back to NSW, he replaced them for gratis.

Oops! I have a Lott lock, if any problem develops I'll look here for advice! But I don't think I'll necessarily be shooting it a whole lot. Thanks. Anybody having any advice about Lott Locks, I'd be glad to read it here!

 

[toot]

is it on CURLY GASTOMSKY gun? if so what gauge is it?

 

[springfield art]

is it on CURLY GASTOMSKY gun? if so what gauge is it?

Hello. I have to measure the bore again, toot. I THINK it's a Curly but can't be sure yet. It seems to be unfired; is there any specific way I can discern if it's a Curly as opposed to a NSW? I'm new to the Trade Gun world, and only recently discovered Curly, etc., on line. I'll get back to you with my latest measures, (I use the library computer!) and appreciate any and all tales or tricks concerning Curly's stuff. Thanks! I did some googling about Curly but would like more info on his guns, vs. NSW. Again, I haven't shot it, but it takes a .690 ball w/ 15th patch nicely, just partially into the bore so I wasn't actually out at a range to shoot.

 

[toot]

I am not sure that I have seen or herd one in 69 cal. most of his that we are talking about were, 75 cal. ones that take a .715 to 725, cal. dia. RB. with or with out a patch, if you use paper wasp or white faced hornet nest for wadding. as stated his were in weight, approx. 4 1/2 lbs. very light and as the the guys are saying kicked like a mule! and a wide flat brass butt plate held on with iron nails, a very long well defined serpent, light ram rod thimbles with rings on them. butt is sorts squared and very broad, not rounded. it has a beaver tail behind the tang. these are just some of the traights that the 12 smooth bored ones have. hope this answers some of your thoughts on what you have. a picture of it will confirm it. as stated most of what he made were 20 bore guns.

 

[toot]

springfield art, another thing to look for-on the early ones the lock was marked -LOTT, and on later ones it had a sitting fox in a circle on it and same on top of the barrel at the rear by the tang.