Davis Fine Fusil Kit

[Cruzatte]

Has anyone put one of these together? Tell us your experience. Photos welcome. Reason I'm asking is I think it looks like an interesting project.

 

[Okwaho]

I have wondered when someone would mention this gun. This is the ONLY French trade gun kit that I will recommend. The gun was manufactured in Liege{Belgium}which supplied a large number of Fusils de traite to New France and therefore can be considered as French.Although not always signed they are often rather easily identified by a flat bottomed rear butt,a raised sighting rib,brass overlaid barrels which are often engraved and on the better examples,damascening and engraving on barrels.I have two friends who each have one.I have several in various stages of needing restoration One is unfinished and we compared it to mine and they are virtually identical, I loaned one of mine to the other friend to use in building his kit and the result was remarkable.
In his new book, "THE FRENCH TRADE GUN in NORTH AMERICA,1662-1759" which was primarily devoted to guns made in Saint-Etienne Kevin made only passing mention to Liegeoise guns but they deserve consideration.

As I said this is the ONLY French gun offered that I can recommend and should NOT be confused with the so called TYPES C and D which are incorrectly sold as correct 18th century trade guns.
I welcome responsible opposing comment

Tom Patton

 

[Cruzatte]

I was hoping you'd be one of the respondents, Tom.

 

[Oudoceus]

I have one. It is the first and only gun I've ever built. As far as the parts I got and the service I received from Davis, I have nothing at all to complain about. I'm pretty happy with the results but if you get closer than 10 feet away it's obvious the gun was not assembled by a pro. I got the maple stock because I thought it would be easier for a beginner to work. I was happy to learn, in the book Tom mentioned, that fine guns were sometimes stocked in maple. Some people complain about the weight of these guns. I don't think that they understand that about the only way to guarantee that a gun wouldn't burst on you, back in the day, was to produce a barrel with a massive breech. This gun is true to form in that respect. I added a few custom touches; sling swivels, a fancy wrist piece, and a brass rear site. I got the brass furniture since I live in the southern colony. I wanted a gun like might be used by one of the earliest European settlers in my area. The Spanish may have been here first but they didn't stay! I'm sorry, but I don't have any pictures I can put on the net.

 

[Cruzatte]

I have a copy of both the Gladyz book, and Russel Bouchard's book on the Tulle muskets. After having read both of these, I've been holding off on any French gun kit project, because I could spot some of the more significant inaccuracies, e.g. lock size on the de chasse de Tulle kits

So let me see if I understand this conversation so far:

• The Davis kit is a fairly faithful copy of the Liege guns
• Some fine French fusils were stocked in maple, not necessarily walnut (J. regia)

Regarding this last point, those French guns stocked in maple; could we assume they were restocked in Detroit or Montreal, the original stocks having been broken? My experience and research here is limited. And I have understood in the past that walnut (Juglans regia) was the preferred stock wood for European guns. In support of maple stocked French guns, I can understand that it is indeed a possibility as instrument makers of the period (Stradivari, Amati, Guarneri and others) were using highly figured maple for violins, cellos, and the like, so why not gun stocks? Makes sense to me.